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mangle1

[mang-guh l]
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; ruin; mar badly: to mangle a text by careless typesetting.
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Origin of mangle1

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

Synonyms

1. See maim. 2. deface; destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mangler

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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

mangle1

verb (tr)
  1. to mutilate, disfigure, or destroy by cutting, crushing, or tearing
  2. to ruin, spoil, or mar
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Derived Formsmangler, nounmangled, adjective

Word Origin

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

mangle2

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 (tr)
  1. to press or dry in a mangle
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Word Origin

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.

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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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper