tangle

Word family

tan·gle1 /ˈtæŋɡəl/ verb

1 MIX[intransitiveI, transitiveT] (also tangle up) to become twisted together, or make something become twisted together, in an untidy mass （使）缠结在一起；（使）乱成一团

My hair tangles easily.

我的头发很容易打结。

His parachute became tangled in the wheels of the plane.

他的降落伞缠在了飞机的轮子上。

2 [intransitiveI] to argue or fight with someone 〔和…〕争吵；打架

tangle with

It was not an animal you’d care to tangle with.

这种动物你是不会想和它缠打的。

Examples from the Corpus

tangle• Viscosity, or resistance to flow, is a property of fluids containing long molecular chains that tangle and intertwine.• Seikaly and Kitchner tangled for several minutes before the referees separated them.• Birds can be injured by getting tangled in it, she says, or by swallowing hooks.• One arm went round his neck, her fingers tangling in the silky hair at his nape.• Zitney lay beside her, his firm, lean shoulder in the air, the sheet tangled negligently around his bronzed arm.• But it tangles up all the time!• The future of machines lies in the tangled weeds underfoot.• You don't want to tangle with rutting stags, however.

tangle with• I did not want to be in a tangle with the press.

tangle2 noun [countableC]

1 MIXa twisted mass of something such as hair or thread 〔头发、线等的〕纠结的一团

Her hair was full of tangles after being out in the wind.

在外面吹了风之后，她的头发变得乱糟糟的。

tangle of

John was sitting on the floor in a tangle of blankets.

约翰坐在地板上一堆乱糟糟的毯子中间。

tangle of bushes/branches/vegetation etc

She followed him, pushing through the dense tangle of bushes and branches.

她跟着他，在密密麻麻交缠在一起的灌木和树枝间奋力穿行。

2 CONFUSEDa confused state or situation 乱成一团，纷乱，混乱

tangle of

Her brain was teeming with a whole tangle of emotions.

她脑子里思绪纷乱。

3 informalARGUEFIGHT a quarrel or fight 争吵；打架

tangle with

She got into a tangle with the staff.

她和员工争吵起来。

Examples from the Corpus

tangle• He collided with the Guardsmen, and they went down in a tangle.• Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.• In a functional sense, spillover was founded on the belief that contemporary economies were based upon a tangle of interrelated sectors.• Out of this fraught legal and financial tangle the bureau worker must work with the client to create order and stability.• It takes forever to comb the tangles out of my hair.• They can also be dangerous to small fish and fry, which might get stuck in the tangle of filaments and suffocate.• The tangle could last minutes or it could last hours.• Indeed, as I practice the technique, my nervousness and tongue tangles diminish.

tangle of bushes/branches/vegetation etc• They had to force their way through a tangle of bushes and branches.• But still, there is something so human, almost intelligible, in that tangle of branches.• In summer, spotted flycatchers intercept insects emerging from the tangle of vegetation beneath.

tangle of emotions• Over the weeks, as Matthew experienced his tangle of emotions, his depression lifted.• It forced me to confront a messy tangle of emotions.• Her brain was teeming with a whole tangle of emotions that she could barely sort out.

Origin tangle1

(1300-1400) Probably from a Scandinavian language

tan·gle1 verbtangle2 noun

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus