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

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mangle ² American  

[mang-guhl] / ˈmæŋ gəl /

noun

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

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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

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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

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verb

1. to press or dry in a mangle

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

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

On Thursday, mangled metal screeched as an excavator compacted the skeletons of former homes.

From Los Angeles Times

His right hand is worse than the left, mangled into a knot.

From Literature

Coal twisted, trying to get loose, but only managed to get his pants further mangled.

From Literature

Related Words

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