tangle — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To mix together or intertwine.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   entangleknotmatsnarl

2. To become mixed together or intertwined.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Synonyms

   disheveltousle

   Antonyms

   untangleunsnarl

   Examples

   Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.

   More examples (1)

   By the afternoon it seemed as if the storm had passed and that frost was setting in; but in the evening the wind rose to gale force, bringing telegraph poles down like skittles and tangling power and telephone lines.

3. To enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

   Usage

   • Figurative
   • Intransitive

   Synonyms

   argueconflictdisputefight

   Examples

   Don't tangle with someone three times your size.

   He tangled with the law.

   More examples (2)

   Compared to the last time they'd tangled with the U.S. Navy's carriers, the antiaircraft fire had been much, much more effective, even if the Wildcats hadn't done particularly well in their intercepts. They couldn't know it, of course, but the officer aboard Enterprise who'd recommended recarpeting the ship with 20-mm Oerlikons had, at least partially, been listened to, and the effect on the Japanese Navy's elite aircrews had been devastating.

   After a few attempts at counseling, they separated in January 2015. Since then, they have tangled in the courts.

4. To catch and hold.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   ensnareentrap

   Examples

   tangled in amorous nets

   When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

   More examples (3)

   This is a book about the potential for the reclamation, reform, and enlightened transformation of the most expansive elements of the liberal tradition— that social and economic justice remain tangled in liberalism's web of pretentious institutions and betrayed promises is the reason for this battle from within.

   He spent the night at a friend's place unable to sleep and wondering how he got himself tangled in this mess.

   Why else would she have tangled him in spells of illusion to get him to keep her company?

Noun

1. A tangled twisted mass.

2. A complicated or confused state or condition.

   Examples

   I tried to sort through this tangle and got nowhere.

   More examples (1)

   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. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

4. A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

5. A paired helical fragment of tau protein found in a nerve cell and associated with Alzheimer's disease.

6. A form of art which consists of sections filled with repetitive patterns.

Noun

1. Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   […] if with thee the roaring wells ⁠Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; ⁠And hands so often clasp’d in mine, Should toss with tangle and with shells.

   You've never smelled the tangle o' the Isles.

2. An instrument consisting essentially 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.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • in-plural
   • Uncountable

3. Any long hanging thing, even a lanky person.

   Usage

   • Scotland
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Noun

1. a twisted and tangled mass that is highly interwoven

   Broader terms

   natural object

   Examples

   they carved their way through the tangle of vines

2. something jumbled or confused

   Synonyms

   snarlmaze

   Broader terms

   perplexity

   Examples

   a tangle of government regulations

Verb

1. force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action

   Synonyms

   embroilsweepsweep updragdrag in

   Broader terms

   involve

   Examples

   They were swept up by the events

   don't drag me into this business

2. tangle or complicate

   Synonyms

   ravelknot

   Broader terms

   intertwinetwineentwineenlaceinterlacelace

   Examples

   a ravelled story

3. disarrange or rumple; dishevel

   Synonyms

   tousledishevel

   Broader terms

   disarrange

   Examples

   The strong wind tousled my hair

4. twist together or entwine into a confusing mass

   Synonyms

   entanglematsnarl

   Broader terms

   twisttwinedistort

   Examples

   The child entangled the cord