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tangle

verb
/ˈtæŋ.ɡəl//ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/CA

Etymology

From Middle English tanglen, probably of North Germanic origin, compare Swedish taggla (“to disorder”), Old Norse þǫngull, þang (“tangle; seaweed”), see Etymology 2 below.

  1. derived from þang
  2. derived from tång
  3. derived from tang

Definitions

  1. To mix together or intertwine.

  2. To become mixed together or intertwined.

    • Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.
    • 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.

    • Don't tangle with someone three times your size.
    • He tangled with the law.
  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. To catch and hold.

      • tangled in amorous nets
      • When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

    2. A tangled twisted mass.

    3. A complicated or confused state or condition.

      • I tried to sort through this tangle and got nowhere.

    4. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

    5. A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly…

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

    6. A paired helical fragment of tau protein found in a nerve cell and associated with…

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

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

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

      • […] 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.

    9. An instrument consisting essentially of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or…

      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.

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

    11. A barangay of Mexico, Pampanga, Philippines.

The neighborhood

Derived

tanglefish, tanglesome, tangle-wrack, tau tangle

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at tangle. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01tangle02intertwined03inextricably04inextricable05untie06loosen07disengage08entangles09entangle

A definitional loop anchored at tangle. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at tangle

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA