wrangle
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to argue or dispute.
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to tend or round up (cattle, horses, or other livestock).
-
to obtain, often by contrivance or scheming; wangle.
He wrangled a job through a friend.
noun
verb
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(intr) to argue, esp noisily or angrily
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(tr) to encourage, persuade, or obtain by argument
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(tr) to herd (cattle or horses)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have wrangledperfect
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has wrangledperfect 3rd person singular
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are wranglingprogressive
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am wranglingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been wranglingperfect progressive
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is wranglingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been wranglingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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wranglessingular 3rd person
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wranglingparticiple
Past
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had wrangledperfect
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wrangledparticiple
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was wranglingprogressive singular
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were wranglingprogressive plural
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had been wranglingperfect progressive
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wrangledsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of wrangle
1350–1400; Middle English, apparently < Low German wrangeln, frequentative of wrangen to struggle, make an uproar; akin to wring
Explanation
To wrangle is to take part in a long, angry, intense argument, especially over an issue with lots of details. You can also wrangle, or herd, a bunch of cows. Politicians and lawyers frequently wrangle, no cows necessary. Wrangle in its current meaning comes from the nineteenth century American term wrangling, the art of herding cattle, probably with the idea in mind that rounding up those tiresome details is a bit like rounding up all those tiresome cattle; they tend to go flying off in all directions. From wrangler in the cowboy sense we get Wrangler jeans, though not all wranglers wear Wranglers of course.
Vocabulary lists containing wrangle
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Julius Caesar
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They include vantage points in and around the villages of Butterwick, Bennington, Leverton, Wrangle and Fishtoft.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2025
The Rams placed three champions and three second-place finishers at Wrangle on the Plains.
From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2018
Mrs. Wrangle, 31, is a jewelry designer whose business, Hart, is in Charleston.
From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2018
According to DelDOT, the project will be complete by early January and Clarks Corner Road will then be reopened between Cox Neck Road and Wrangle Hill Road.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 25, 2017
Until this hour, alas, my labor was Vengeance on Wrangle only; how could I Then dedicate myself to such a task?
From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 04 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Francke, Kuno
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
