tangle1
[tang-guh l]
- to bring together into a mass of confusedly interlaced or intertwisted threads, strands, or other like parts; snarl.
- to involve in something that hampers, obstructs, or overgrows: The bushes were tangled with vines.
- to catch and hold in or as if in a net or snare.
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- to be or become tangled.
- Informal. to come into conflict; fight or argue: I don't want to tangle with him over the new ruling.
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- a tangled condition or situation.
- a tangled or confused mass or assemblage of something.
- a confused jumble: a tangle of contradictory statements.
- Informal. a conflict; disagreement: He got into a tangle with the governor.
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Origin of tangle1
1300–50; Middle English tangilen, tagilen to entangle < Scandinavian; compare Swedish (dial.) taggla to disarrange
Synonyms
See more synonyms for tangle on Thesaurus.com8. snarl, net, labyrinth, maze.
tangle2
[tang-guh l]
- any of several large seaweeds of the genus Laminaria.
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Origin of tangle2
1530–40; < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse thǫngull strand of tangle, Norwegian tang
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tangle
Contemporary Examples
The tangle of enormous fake diamonds resting on top of her cleavage sparkles at every flashbulb.
Pettet threw his head back and laughed as he recounted his tangle with the police.
Even an Arrest Can’t Stop Clayton Pettet From Losing His Virginity in an Art ShowNico Hines
December 12, 2013
Its solution—a tangle of suspicion that spreads from a police unit to local drug ring—is clever and well constructed.
The tangle of groups, funders, and leaders in the black anti-immigration effort—as in the broader movement—can be hard to follow.
The bloodshed began at the end of the bridge amid a tangle of flyovers near the Egyptian Museum.
Historical Examples
"It wasn't just a tangle, like combings," she went on slowly.
Good IndianB. M. Bower
He looked backward from the heights above the tangle after they had come through it.
Louisiana LouWilliam West Winter
It is a nest of greenery in the midst of a tangle of brushwood.
Abbe Mouret's TransgressionEmile Zola
What on earth could I do when affairs were in such a tangle?
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
There was a tangle of undergrowth, and a heavy grove of palms.
Things as They AreAmy Wilson-Carmichael
tangle1
- a confused or complicated mass of hairs, lines, fibres, etc, knotted or coiled together
- a complicated problem, condition, or situation
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- to become or cause to become twisted together in a confused mass
- (intr often foll by with) to come into conflict; contendto tangle with the police
- (tr) to involve in matters which hinder or confuseto tangle someone in a shady deal
- (tr) to ensnare or trap, as in a net
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Word Origin
C14 tangilen, variant of tagilen, probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Swedish dialect taggla to entangle
tangle2
tangle weed
- alternative names (esp Scot) for oarweed
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Word Origin
C16: of Scandinavian origin: compare Danish tang seaweed
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 tangle
v.
mid-14c., nasalized variant of tagilen "to involve in a difficult situation, entangle," from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Swedish taggla "to disorder," Old Norse þongull "seaweed"). In reference to material things, from c.1500. Meaning "to fight with" is American English, first recorded 1928. Related: Tangled; tangling. Tanglefoot (1859) was Western American English slang for "strong whiskey."
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n.
1610s, "a tangled condition," from tangle (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper