mangle

¹

[mang-guhl]

verb (used with object)

mangled, mangling 

1. to injure severely, disfigure, or mutilate by cutting, slashing, or crushing.

   The coat sleeve was mangled in the gears of the machine.

2. to spoil or ruin; mar badly.

   The story was mangled by a clumsy translation.

   Synonyms: destroy, deface

mangle

²

[mang-guhl]

noun

1. a machine for smoothing or pressing clothes, household linen, etc., by means of heated rollers.

verb (used with object)

mangled, mangling 

1. to smooth or press with a mangle.

2. Metalworking.,  to squeeze (metal plates) between rollers.

mangle

¹

/ ˈmæŋɡəl /

verb

1. to mutilate, disfigure, or destroy by cutting, crushing, or tearing

2. to ruin, spoil, or mar

mangle

²

/ ˈmæŋɡəl /

noun

1. Also called: wringer. a machine for pressing or drying wet textiles, clothes, etc, consisting of two heavy rollers between which the cloth is passed

verb

1. to press or dry in a mangle

Other Word Forms

• mangler noun
• mangled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mangle¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French mangler, perhaps dissimilated variant of Old French mangonner “to mangle”; akin to mangonel

Origin of mangle²

1765–75; < Dutch mangel ≪ Late Latin manganum. See mangonel

Word History and Origins

Origin of mangle¹

C14: from Norman French mangler, probably from Old French mahaignier to maim

Origin of mangle²

C18: from Dutch mangel, ultimately from Late Latin manganum. See _mangonel

Synonym Study

See maim.

Example Sentences

There’s row after row of mangled, rusting metal remains of former homes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Aerial footage broadcast by US media showed smoldering debris at the factory in Hickman County, Tennessee, with charred and mangled vehicles strewn across the facility.

Read more on Barron's

We saw fragments of that missile, now being collected as evidence: mangled metal pieces, some with Cyrillic lettering on them, gathered in a heap.

Read more on BBC

His first job as an actor was in Martin McDonagh’s unruly black comedy “The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” with a plot that hinges on a mangled cat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But like that film, “Weapons” sees its best, boldest ideas mangled by Cregger’s worst instincts.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• bruise 
• contort 
• disfigure 
• distort 
• hack 
• impair 
• lacerate 
• maim 
• maul 
• wreck