What does "tangle" mean?

Tangle: 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.

Additional senses

2.To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
3.Etym: [Cf. Icel. þöngull. 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.
4.Etym: [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.
5.pl. An instrument consisting essentiallly 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 (Zoöl.), the turnstone. [Prov. Eng.]

Sources

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00