verb
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to catch or involve in or as if in a tangle; ensnare or enmesh
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to make tangled or twisted; snarl
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to make complicated; confuse
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to involve in difficulties; entrap
Related Words
See involve.
Other Word Forms
- entangleable adjective
- entangledly adverb
- entangledness noun
- entangler noun
- entanglingly adverb
- interentangle verb (used with object)
- unentangleable adjective
- unentangled adjective
- unentangling adjective
Etymology
Origin of entangle
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.
Mulino has insisted the canal's neutrality is intact and has urged Washington not to entangle Panama in its rivalry with Beijing.
From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026
Nets along the east coast also routinely entangle humpback whales on their annual migration to and from the tropics.
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2025
“Unguided chatbot responses, for example, cannot be neatly constrained. Attempts to do so will either be insufficient or entangle developers in a morass of third-rail social issues.”
From Salon • Aug. 14, 2025
Researchers wondered whether ray spiders might have evolved the ability to anticipate a mosquito’s movements based on auditory cues to entangle it before it can flee.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 4, 2024
The overgrown limberjack dived at the golem’s feet, using both arms and legs to entangle Hugo’s ankles.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
