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Synonyms

mangle

1 American  
[mang-guhl] / ˈmæŋ gəl /

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 American  
[mang-guhl] / ˈmæŋ gəl /

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 British  
/ ˈmæŋɡəl /

verb

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

  2. to ruin, spoil, or mar

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mangle 2 British  
/ 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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to press or dry in a mangle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See maim.

Other Word Forms

  • mangled adjective
  • mangler noun

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

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.

He tugged his hood, setting his mangled face further in shadow.

From Literature

Over the past few years, some iPhone users noticed their have texts have become rife with mangled words and strange punctuation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Over the past few years, my texts have become rife with mangled words and strange punctuation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even so, I lifted the poor, mangled thing in a toast—then chomped off the bottom.

From Literature

Such gaps are not abstract — they represent real human lives that are lost or mangled.

From Salon

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.