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: tangle, 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, tangle, sweep,
         sweep up, drag, drag in]
    2: tangle or complicate; "a ravelled story" [syn: ravel,
       tangle, knot] [ant: ravel, ravel out, unknot,
       unpick, unravel, unscramble, untangle]
    3: disarrange or rumple; dishevel; "The strong wind tousled my
       hair" [syn: tousle, dishevel, tangle]
    4: twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; "The child
       entangled the cord" [syn: entangle, tangle, mat,
       snarl] [ant: disentangle, straighten out, unsnarl]

Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. i.
   To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
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Tangle \Tan"gle\, n.
   1. [Cf. Icel. [thorn]["o]ngull. See Tang seaweed.] (Bot.)
      Any large blackish seaweed, especially the Laminaria
      saccharina. See Kelp.
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            Coral and sea fan and tangle, the blooms and the
            palms of the ocean.                   --C. Kingsley.
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   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.
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   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.
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   Blue tangle. (Bot.)See Dangleberry.

   Tangle picker (Zool.), the turnstone. [Prov. Eng.]
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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.
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   2. To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in
      lies. "Tangled in amorous nets." --Milton.
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            When my simple weakness strays,
            Tangled in forbidden ways.            --Crashaw.
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