tangle

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She just sprays her hair where the tangle is and in a couple of seconds the tangle is combed out.

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Definitions (32)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. transitive verb To mix together or intertwine in a confused mass; snarl.
  2. transitive verb To involve in hampering or awkward complications; entangle.
  3. transitive verb To catch and hold in or as if in a net; entrap. See Synonyms at catch.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (13)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (6)

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Examples (50)

  • We consider a family of states known as the generalized GHZ states and derive an analytical expression relating the 3-tangle, which quantifies tripartite entanglement, to the Svetlichny inequality, which is a Bell-type inequality that is violated only when all three qubits are nonlocally correlated. —  CiteULike: Everyone's library
  • She just sprays her hair where the tangle is and in a couple of seconds the tangle is combed out. —  Epinions Recent Content for Home
  • Wireless networks lack messy cord tangle, and they are especially convenient for notebook users who don't want to be confined to one physical location. —  PC World
  • Oddly, I just received an iPod shuffle for review (the new, tiny model), and the earbuds that come with it are nearly impossible to tangle -- I tried. —  Wi-Fi Networking News
  • Yes, the plant at this stage has no leaves: the leaves appeared in a great strappy mass in spring and died down into a rather ugly tangle, which is maybe why around here they are planted in the grass of the yard so that they will eventually be mowed when the leaves get unsightly. —  The Stitchery
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

dense ·  thick ·  knot ·  maze ·  rag ·  clump ·  bare ·  rough ·  purple ·  leafy ·  luxuriant

Used in the same contextWord Family

tangle:   tangled
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English tangilen, to involve in an embarrassing situation, variant of tagilen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish dialectal taggla, to entangle.
  2. Of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse thöngull, seaweed.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English *tangel, from Icelandic thöngull, seaweed, diminutive of thang = Swedish tång = Danish tang, later English tang, seaweed: see tang. Hence (prob.) tangle, v.
  2. Early modern English also tangell; apparently literally ‘twist together like seaweed,’ from tangle, n. But the development of such a verb from a noun of limited use like tangle is somewhat remarkable, and needs confirmation.
  3. from tangle, v.
  4. Middle English tanggyl; origin obscure. Cf. tanglesome.
 

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/ˈtæŋgl/
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