mangle
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to smooth or press with a mangle.
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Metalworking. to squeeze (metal plates) between rollers.
verb
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to mutilate, disfigure, or destroy by cutting, crushing, or tearing
-
to ruin, spoil, or mar
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See maim.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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
Explanation
When you mangle something, you completely destroy it, by ripping, cutting, crushing, or otherwise mauling it into pieces. You shouldn't leave your new puppy alone in a room with your favorite shoes because he might mangle them with his sharp puppy teeth. A bad accident will mangle your bicycle, bending it beyond repair, and a paper shredder mangles a document by slicing it up. You can also use the word mangle to describe what happens when your uncle's terrible bluegrass band performs a cover of your favorite classic rock song — they mangle it.
Vocabulary lists containing mangle
Ghost
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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"Marigolds"
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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.
If “to toss and mangle these poor human bodies was the . . . law of Nature,” Thoreau asks us, “why waste any time in awe or pity?”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
But whether she uses the term “African American woman” or “Black woman,” machine distortions that mangle facial features and hair textures occur at high rates.
From New York Times • Jul. 4, 2023
To slightly mangle Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run": the market's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance Powell drive; everybody's out on the run tonight, and there's no place left to hide.
From Reuters • Mar. 7, 2023
Ms Bowler said the ring had had "a charmed life" and had been damaged going through a mangle, but it was not expensive jewellery that caught her mother's eye.
From BBC • Aug. 7, 2021
The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley’s vests.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
