wrangle
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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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
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(intr) to argue, esp noisily or angrily
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(tr) to encourage, persuade, or obtain by argument
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(tr) to herd (cattle or horses)
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
He could either exploit the armada as leverage to wrangle a diplomatic deal or pull the trigger.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
That email doesn't specify what "matter" he's referring to, but since 2009, Stern, Epstein, and Sarah Ferguson had been engaged in a long and painful wrangle about her acute financial troubles.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026
She needs to figure out how to wrangle it.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026
Thirteen of the 85 Federalist Papers wrangle with how best to handle this threat, she notes in her history of American civil-military relations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026
Instead, he talked about world population and the task of the world’s scythes, if not to level it, then to wrangle it to a reasonable ratio.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
