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tangle1

[tang-guhl]
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verb (used with object), tan·gled, tan·gling.
  1. to bring together into a mass of confusedly interlaced or intertwisted threads, strands, or other like parts; snarl.
  2. to involve in something that hampers, obstructs, or overgrows: The bushes were tangled with vines.
  3. to catch and hold in or as if in a net or snare.
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verb (used without object), tan·gled, tan·gling.
  1. to be or become tangled.
  2. Informal. to come into conflict; fight or argue: I don't want to tangle with him over the new ruling.
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noun
  1. a tangled condition or situation.
  2. a tangled or confused mass or assemblage of something.
  3. a confused jumble: a tangle of contradictory statements.
  4. 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
Related formstan·gle·ment, nountan·gler, nountan·gly, adverb

Synonyms

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8. snarl, net, labyrinth, maze.

tangle2

[tang-guh l]
noun
  1. 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

Related Words

messlabyrinthsnarlcoilskeinmorassentangleperplexembroilconfuseenmeshtrapjamcomplicationwebmuddlesnagtwistmeshmass

Examples from the Web for tangle

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "It wasn't just a tangle, like combings," she went on slowly.

    Good Indian

    B. M. Bower

  • He looked backward from the heights above the tangle after they had come through it.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

  • It is a nest of greenery in the midst of a tangle of brushwood.

  • What on earth could I do when affairs were in such a tangle?

  • There was a tangle of undergrowth, and a heavy grove of palms.

    Things as They Are

    Amy Wilson-Carmichael

British Dictionary definitions for tangle

tangle1

noun
  1. a confused or complicated mass of hairs, lines, fibres, etc, knotted or coiled together
  2. a complicated problem, condition, or situation
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verb
  1. to become or cause to become twisted together in a confused mass
  2. (intr often foll by with) to come into conflict; contendto tangle with the police
  3. (tr) to involve in matters which hinder or confuseto tangle someone in a shady deal
  4. (tr) to ensnare or trap, as in a net
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Derived Formstanglement, nountangler, nountangly, adjective

Word Origin

C14 tangilen, variant of tagilen, probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Swedish dialect taggla to entangle

tangle2

tangle weed

noun
  1. 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