Tangle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtæŋ.É¡É™l/
• (also) US IPA: /ˈteɪŋ.É¡É™l/
• Rhymes: -æŋɡəl

Origin uncertain; apparently a variant form of tagle.

Full definition of tangle

Verb

1. (intransitive) to become mixed together or intertwinedHer hair was tangled from a day in the wind.
2. (intransitive) to be forced into some kind of situation
3. (intransitive) to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fightDon't tangle with someone three times your size.He tangled with the law.
4. (transitive) to mix together or intertwine
5. (transitive) to catch and hold
• MiltonTangled in amorous nets.
• CrashawWhen my simple weakness strays,
  Tangled in forbidden ways.

Synonyms

• (to become mixed together or intertwined) dishevel, tousle
• (to be forced into some kind of situation) drag, drag in, embroil, sweep, sweep up
• (to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight) argue, conflict, dispute, fight
• (to mix together or intertwine) entangle, knot, mat, snarl
• (to catch and hold) entrap

Antonyms

• (to mix together or intertwine) untangle, unsnarl

Noun

1. A tangled twisted mass.
2. A complicated or confused state or condition.
• 2013-08-03, Boundary problems, Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.
3. I tried to sort through this tangle and got nowhere.
4. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.
5. (mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

Synonyms

• (tangled twisted mass) knot, mess, snarl
• (complicated or confused state or condition) maze, snarl
• (argument, conflict, dispute, or fight) argument, conflict, dispute, fight

Of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic þöngull.

Noun

1. Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.
• 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, 10:Than if with thee the roaring wells
  Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine;
  And hands so often clasped in mine,
  Should toss with tangle and with shells.
2. (in the plural) An instrument consisting essentiallly of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.

Anagrams

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