tan´gler

tan|gle¹ «TANG guhl», verb, -gled, -gling, noun.

–v.t.

1. to twist and twine together in a confused mass; jumble (threads); mat; knot; snarl: »

The kitten had tangled the ball of twine.

SYNONYM(S): entangle, interweave.

2. to hinder, hamper, or obstruct; involve or catch and hold: »

Figurative. tangl'd in the fold Of dire necessity (Milton).

3. Figurative. to mix up; bewilder; confuse: »

He had cut the knot which the Congress had only twisted and tangled (Macaulay).

–v.i.

to be or become tangled: »

Long hair tangles easily.

–n.

1. a confused or tangled mass; knot or jumble: »

The climbing vines are all in a tangle and need to be pruned and tied up.

2. Figurative. a) anything complicated and confused; muddle; puzzle: »

a tangle of words. Her quick temper gets her into one tangle after another.

b) perplexed state of mind; bewilderment: »

in a tangle of contradictory statements.

3. the condition of being tangled; twistedness; obstructedness; confusion; trapping.

╂[apparently variant of Middle English tagilen entangle < Scandinavian (compare Swedish dialectal taggla to disorder)]

–tan´gler, noun.

tan|gle² «TANG guhl», noun.

any one of various large seaweeds.

╂[< Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic thangulr, probably < thang tang³)]