Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tangled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Tangling.] [A frequentative fr. tang seaweed; hence, to
twist like seaweed. See Tang seaweed, and cf. Tangle, n.]
1. To unite or knit together confusedly; to interweave or
interlock, as threads, so as to make it difficult to
unravel the knot; to entangle; to ravel.
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2. To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in
lies. "Tangled in amorous nets." --Milton.
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When my simple weakness strays,
Tangled in forbidden ways. --Crashaw.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. i.
To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tangle \Tan"gle\, n.
1. [Cf. Icel. [thorn]["o]ngull. See Tang seaweed.] (Bot.)
Any large blackish seaweed, especially the Laminaria
saccharina. See Kelp.
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Coral and sea fan and tangle, the blooms and the
palms of the ocean. --C. Kingsley.
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2. [From Tangle, v.] A knot of threads, or other thing,
united confusedly, or so interwoven as not to be easily
disengaged; a snarl; as, hair or yarn in tangles; a tangle
of vines and briers. Used also figuratively.
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3. pl. 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.
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Blue tangle. (Bot.)See Dangleberry.
Tangle picker (Zool.), the turnstone. [Prov. Eng.]
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
tangle
n 1: a twisted and tangled mass that is highly interwoven; "they
carved their way through the tangle of vines"
2: something jumbled or confused; "a tangle of government
regulations" [syn: snarl, maze]
v 1: force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of
action; "They were swept up by the events"; "don't drag
me into this business" [syn: embroil, sweep, sweep
up, drag, drag in]
2: tangle or complicate; "a ravelled story" [syn: ravel, knot]
[ant: unravel, unravel]
3: disarrange or rumple; dishevel; "The strong wind tousled my
hair" [syn: tousle, dishevel]
4: twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; "The child
entangled the cord" [syn: entangle, mat, snarl]
[ant: disentangle, disentangle]
WordNet (r) 2.0
159 Moby Thesaurus words for "tangle":
Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption,
a outrance, absorb, allure, bag, bait the hook, ball up,
bandy with, battle, battle it out, birdlime, bump heads, burden,
can of worms, catch, catch out, catch up, catch up in, coil,
come up against, complex, complexity, complicate, complication,
concern, confound, confuse, confusion, contend with, cope with,
cramp, cripple, cross swords with, cumber, decoy, disagree with,
dispute, draw in, embarrass, embrangle, embroil, encumber, engage,
engage with, enmesh, ensnare, ensnarl, entangle, entanglement,
entoil, entrammel, entrap, entwine, enweb, exchange shots, fetter,
fight against, fight like devils, fight with, foul, foul up, gin,
gnarl, go to loggerheads, grapple with, hamper, hamstring,
handicap, harpoon, have it out, hobble, hook, hook in, impede,
implicate, interest, interlace, intertwine, intertwist, interweave,
inveigle, involve, jam, jumble, jungle, kink, knot, labyrinth,
lame, land, lasso, lime, lock horns, louse up, lumber, lure, maze,
meander, measure swords with, medley, mesh, mess, mess up,
mishmash, mix up, mix-up, morass, muck, muck up, muddle, nail, net,
noose, perplex, press down, puzzle, ramify, ravel, rope, sack,
saddle with, scramble, screw up, settle it, shackle, shuffle,
skein, snafu, snag, snake pit, snare, snarl, snarl up, sniggle,
spear, spread the toils, strive with, struggle with, suck into,
take, tangle up with, tangle with, tangled skein, tilt with, toil,
trammel, trap, trip, try conclusions with, twist, web, webwork,
weigh down, wheels within wheels, wilderness, wind, wrestle with
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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