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definitions

mangle

1
[mang-guh l]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mangle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), man·gled, man·gling.

to injure severely, disfigure, or mutilate by cutting, slashing, or crushing: The coat sleeve was mangled in the gears of the machine.
to spoil; ruin; mar badly: to mangle a text by careless typesetting.

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RELATED WORDS

disfigure, wreck, lacerate, bruise, distort, impair, contort, hack, maim, maul, deface, rend, slay, slit, cut, injure, ruin, wound, damage, butcher

Nearby words

  1. mangemange,
  2. manger,
  3. mangetout,
  4. mangey,
  5. mangia-cake,
  6. mango,
  7. mango madness,
  8. mangoky,
  9. mangold-wurzel,
  10. mangonel

Origin of mangle

1
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French mangler, perhaps dissimilated variant of Old French mangonner to mangle; akin to mangonel
Related formsman·gler, noun

Synonyms for mangle

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mangle ON THESAURUS.COM
1. See maim. 2. deface; destroy.

mangle

2
[mang-guh l]

noun

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

verb (used with object), man·gled, man·gling.

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

Origin of mangle

2
1765–75; < Dutch mangel ≪ Late Latin manganum. See mangonel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mangled

British Dictionary definitions for mangled

mangle

1

verb (tr)

to mutilate, disfigure, or destroy by cutting, crushing, or tearing
to ruin, spoil, or mar
Derived Formsmangler, nounmangled, adjective

Word Origin for mangle

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

mangle

2

noun

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 (tr)

to press or dry in a mangle

Word Origin for mangle

C18: from Dutch mangel, ultimately from Late Latin manganum. See mangonel
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
Word Origin and History for mangled

mangle

n.

clothes-pressing machine, 1774, from Dutch mangel, apparently short for mangelstok, from stem of mangelen to mangle, from Middle Dutch mange, ultimately from root of mangonel.

mangle

v.

"to mutilate," c.1400, from Anglo-French mangler, frequentative of Old French mangoner "cut to pieces," of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with Old French mahaignier "to maim, mutilate, wound" (see maim). Meaning "to mispronounce (words), garble" is from 1530s. Related: Mangled; mangling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper