wrangle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
wrangles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wrangled,
past participle, past
-
wrangling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
wrangles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wrangled,
past participle, past
-
wrangling
present participle
-
to argue or dispute.
-
to tend or round up (cattle, horses, or other livestock).
-
to obtain, often by contrivance or scheming; wangle.
He wrangled a job through a friend.
noun
verb
-
(intr) to argue, esp noisily or angrily
-
(tr) to encourage, persuade, or obtain by argument
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(tr) to herd (cattle or horses)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wranglesimple
-
wranglessimple
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have wrangledperfect
-
has wrangledperfect
-
am wranglingprogressive
-
are wranglingprogressive
-
is wranglingprogressive
-
have been wranglingperfect progressive
-
has been wranglingperfect progressive
Past
-
wrangledsimple
-
had wrangledperfect
-
was wranglingprogressive
-
were wranglingprogressive
-
had been wranglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wrangle
1350–1400; Middle English, apparently < Low German wrangeln, frequentative of wrangen to struggle, make an uproar; akin to wring
Explanation
To wrangle is to take part in a long, angry, intense argument, especially over an issue with lots of details. You can also wrangle, or herd, a bunch of cows. Politicians and lawyers frequently wrangle, no cows necessary. Wrangle in its current meaning comes from the nineteenth century American term wrangling, the art of herding cattle, probably with the idea in mind that rounding up those tiresome details is a bit like rounding up all those tiresome cattle; they tend to go flying off in all directions. From wrangler in the cowboy sense we get Wrangler jeans, though not all wranglers wear Wranglers of course.
Vocabulary lists containing wrangle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A council has placed two "concrete Lego-type" blocks at the rear access to the home of an 81-year-old just one week after she won a legal wrangle over access.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
I wrangle her into those tights and leotard because I will always believe dance gives me the best life lessons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Too many lines of code to analyze, armies of AI assistants to wrangle, and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
He could either exploit the armada as leverage to wrangle a diplomatic deal or pull the trigger.
From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2026
“Sure I can’t wrangle you into a season of water polo this spring?” he said.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Shein’s valuation has declined sharply since hitting $100 billion in 2022, as it wrangles with increasing competition from rivals such as Temu and persistent uncertainty from escalating trade restrictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The group’s motto says it all: “As the cowboy wrangles cattle, we wrangle consciousness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Somehow he wrangles a group of five surly boys until one of their rich fathers comes through and whisks away four.
From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2024
The change in rules happens as Japan wrangles with its long-standing pacifist stance.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2023
Frau Büchner wrangles impossible harmonies from our voices.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
On third down from the three, Donald pushed his way into the Giants’ backfield and wrangled running back Najee Harris for a three-yard loss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Police officers followed and cornered the horse on motorbikes, before it was wrangled by a lasso-carrying cowboy.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Yet as I wrangled them into my closet, something kept nagging at me like a pebble in an insole: Bernie Sanders’ eye-rolling dismissal outside the Senate elevator.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Last October, a similar inflatable pumpkin went on a windy joyride, rolling into traffic and briefly “attacking” an officer before being wrangled back into submission.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025
“Of course I’ll help you,” he says, doing the exact thing that got him wrangled into the cheating scandal.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
But internal wrangling is damping what might otherwise be a powerful voice when the EU’s biggest powers, France and Germany, frequently disagree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
The attempted execution came after days of last-minute legal wrangling that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
After a summer of contract wrangling, Pollock kept his look hidden under a beanie and scrum-cap before emerging for kick-off and ensuring the spotlight stayed on him.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Additional land wrangling remained after the museum’s approval.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Gawaine, cannot we leave this wrangling to another time?
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
