Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tangle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. i.
To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tangle \Tan"gle\, n.
1. [Cf. Icel. [thorn]["o]ngull. See {Tang} seaweed.] (Bot.)
Any large blackish seaweed, especially the {Laminaria
saccharina}. See {Kelp}.
Coral and sea fan and tangle, the blooms and the
palms of the ocean. --C. Kingsley.
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.
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.
{Blue tangle}. (Bot.)See {Dangleberry}.
{Tangle picker} (Zo["o]l.), the turnstone. [Prov. Eng.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
2. To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in
lies. ``Tangled in amorous nets.'' --Milton.
When my simple weakness strays, Tangled in forbidden
ways. --Crashaw.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
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}]
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