Dictionary.com
definitions

mangle

1
[mang-guh l]
||

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.

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

1. See maim. 2. deface; destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mangler

Contemporary Examples of mangler

  • “Trucks” and “The Mangler” are Arthur C. Clarke specials: machines on the rampage.

    The Daily Beast logo
    Great New Reads

    The Daily Beast

    October 31, 2010

Historical Examples of mangler

  • Mrs. Tramore had got rid of Mr. Mangler, and Bertram Jay was in other quarters.

  • I was not a "mangler," but I went in and asked to see the boss.

    The Woman Who Toils

    Mrs. John Van Vorst and Marie Van Vorst

  • Mr. Mangler did nothing but say how charming he thought his hostess of the Sunday, and what a tremendously jolly visit he had had.

  • Mr. Mangler sat down; he alluded with artless resentment to the way, in July, the door of his friends had been closed to him.

  • She had to reflect that one does what one can and that Mr. Mangler probably thought he was delicate.

British Dictionary definitions for mangler

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 mangler

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