entangle
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English entanglen (“to involve [someone] in difficulty”, “to embarrass”). Equivalent to en- + tangle.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɪnˈtaŋ.ɡəl/,[1][2][3] IPA(key): /ɛnˈtaŋ.ɡəl/, [ɛnˈtaŋ.ɡl̩]
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɪnˈtæŋ.ɡəl/,[4][1][5][6][2][3] /ɛnˈtaŋ.ɡəl/[6]
Verb
entangle (third-person singular simple present entangles, present participle entangling, simple past and past participle entangled)
- (transitive) To tangle up; to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated.
- The dolphins became entangled in a fishing net.
- (transitive) To involve in such complications as to render extrication difficult.
- (transitive, figuratively) To ensnare.
- 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Madeleine”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza 3, page 19:
- But when I turn away, / Thou, willing me to stay, / Wooest not, nor vainly wranglest; / But, looking fixedly the while, / All my bounding heart entanglest, / In a golden-netted smile; […]
- (transitive) To involve in difficulties or embarrassments; to embarrass, puzzle, or distract by adverse or perplexing circumstances, interests, demands, etc.; to hamper; to bewilder.
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
twist or interweave
|
involve in complications
|
involve in difficulties
References
- “entangle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “entangle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “entangle” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “entangle” (US) / “entangle” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “entangle”, in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
- ^ “entangle”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ “entangle”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 “entangle”, in Collins English Dictionary.