mangle

¹

[ mang-guhl ]

verb (used with object)

, man·gled, man·gling.

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)

, man·gled, man·gling.

1. to smooth or press with a mangle.
2. Metalworking. to squeeze (metal plates) between rollers.

mangle

¹

/ ˈmæŋɡəl /

noun

1. Also calledwringer 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

mangle

²

/ ˈmæŋɡəl /

verb

1. to mutilate, disfigure, or destroy by cutting, crushing, or tearing
2. to ruin, spoil, or mar

Derived Forms

• ˈmangler, noun
• ˈmangled, adjective

Other Words From

• mangler noun

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

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

Origin of mangle²

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

Synonym Study

See maim.

Example Sentences

They also fine-tuned the speed and range of movement of the robotic arms—after all, no one wants to see a giant robotic arm gripping with a pointy fork flying at your face with a dangling, mangled piece of cake.

From Singularity Hub 

Popular online posts on this topic that defend Bitcoin, including from the digital mining operator Mawson, either do not cite any sources for their data or mangle the findings of trusted institutions.

From Time

Those skeletons, unacknowledged—specters if you will—will always be there to raise their mangled heads when we least desire or can afford.

From Outside Online

When I was very young we went caroling and always had a huge tree topped with a gold tinsel star that would look more mangled every year.

From Time

Somehow it seems fitting, given everything we’ve learned about the art market thus far, that an attempt to address this relatively simple royalty issue was so badly mangled.

From Freakonomics

Saying a word in a different tone can distort or utterly mangle a line.

From The Daily Beast

Plus, a slip of the electric knife can really mangle your roast.

From The Daily Beast

They had her give the weather update, and even let her mangle the word “amok.”

From The Daily Beast

Now, here seemed simple panic: and like a pack of dogs which rush to mangle a mongrel, they were at him pell-mell.

From Project Gutenberg

They are then damped on a water mangle, and beamed on to the heavy iron bowl of the beetling machine.

From Project Gutenberg

In a laundry visited when the boss was out, we conferred with the engineer about one particularly bad mangle.

From Project Gutenberg

The reason for the low wages listed for mangle work seems to lie only in nationality.

From Project Gutenberg

From the folders the sheets are carried away to a mangle, where they are folded over again by young girls.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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