Entangle
[ɪn'tæŋg(ə)l;en-] or [ɪn'tæŋɡl]
Definition
(verb.) twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; 'The child entangled the cord'.
(verb.) entrap; 'Our people should not be mired in the past'.
Checked by Ernest--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated; to make tangled, confused, and intricate; as, to entangle yarn or the hair.
(v. t.) To involve in such complications as to render extrication a bewildering difficulty; hence, metaphorically, to insnare; to perplex; to bewilder; to puzzle; as, to entangle the feet in a net, or in briers.
Typed by Elinor
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Ensnare, entrap, catch, involve in complication.[2]. Confuse (by twisting or crossing), interweave, tangle, knot, mat.[3]. Perplex, embarrass, puzzle, confound, bewilder, pose, nonplus, stagger, mystify.
Edited by Harold
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Knot, mat, entrap, ensnare, ravel, implicate, involve, perplex, embarrass,inveigle, compromise
ANT:Disentangle, unravel, extricate
Editor: Lora
Definition
v.t. to twist into a tangle or so as not to be easily separated: to involve in complications: to perplex: to ensnare.—n. Entang′lement a confused state: perplexity.
Checker: Rita
Examples
- Now, I put it to you: would you at this present moment agree to be his wife if that had not happened to entangle you with him? Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- A dark conspiracy was on foot in the midst of us; and our beloved and innocent friend had been entangled in its meshes. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- As that gentleman had his hands entangled in his cravat, he had no alternative but to follow him to the floor. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Every human life is deeply entangled in them, and concerned in their solution. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Entangled with the love of gaiety, organized as commerce, it is literally impossible to follow the myriad expressions it assumes. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- They gave her SUCH pleasure, as they lay, the three circles, with their knotted jewels, entangled in her palm. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He was entangled by his own vanity, with as little excuse of love as possible, and without the smallest inconstancy of mind towards her cousin. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- But that my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more than I could suffer. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- We still read Washington's immortal warning against entangling alliances with full comprehension and an answering purpose. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The sentence in which that repudiation was expressed was Washington's injunction to avoid entangling alliances. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Carton stooped to pick up the coat, which lay almost entangling his feet. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The albumen of the serum coagulates and rises to the surface in a scum which entangles the impurities and bone black, leaving the syrup light in color. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Checker: Wayne