different between tangle vs twangle

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæ?.??l/
• Rhymes: -æ???l

Etymology 1

From Middle English tanglen, probably of North Germanic origin, compare Swedish taggla (“to disorder”), Old Norse þ?ngull, þang (“tangle; seaweed”), see Etymology 2 below.

Verb

tangle (third-person singular simple present tangles, present participle tangling, simple past and past participle tangled)

1. (intransitive) to become mixed together or intertwined
2. (intransitive) to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight

3. (transitive) to mix together or intertwine
4. (transitive) to catch and hold; to ensnare.
   • 1646, Richard Crashaw, Steps to the Temple

     When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

Synonyms

• (to become mixed together or intertwined): dishevel, tousle
• (to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight): argue, conflict, dispute, fight
• (to mix together or intertwine): entangle, knot, mat, snarl
• (to catch and hold): entrap

Antonyms

• (to mix together or intertwine): untangle, unsnarl

Derived terms

• betangle
• entangle

Translations

Noun

tangle (plural tangles)

1. A tangled twisted mass.
2. A complicated or confused state or condition.

3. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.
4. (mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.
5. A form of art which consists of sections filled with repetitive patterns.

Synonyms

• (tangled twisted mass): knot, mess, snarl
• (complicated or confused state or condition): maze, snarl
• (argument, conflict, dispute, or fight): argument, conflict, dispute, fight

Derived terms

• tanglefish (Syngnathus acus)
• tanglesome

Translations

Etymology 2

Of North Germanic origin, such as Danish tang or Swedish tång, from Old Norse þongull, þang. See also Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic þöngull.

Noun

tangle (countable and uncountable, plural tangles)

2. Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.
   • 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, 10:

     Than if with thee the roaring wells / Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; / And hands so often clasped in mine, / Should toss with tangle and with shells.

   • 1917, Kenneth Macleod (editor) "The Road to the Isles", in Songs of the Hebrides:

     You've never smelled the tangle o' the Isles.

3. (in the plural) 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.
4. (Scotland) Any long hanging thing, even a lanky person.

Hyponyms

• kombu

Further reading

• tangle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tangle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• tangle at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• gelant, langet, netlag

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?twæ?.??l/
• Rhymes: -æ???l

Etymology

From twang +? -le (frequentative suffix).

Verb

twangle (third-person singular simple present twangles, present participle twangling, simple past and past participle twangled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To twang repetitively.
   • While the twangling violin / Struck up with Soldier-laddie.

Noun

twangle (plural twangles)

1. A twanging sound.

   Synonyms: twang, twanging, twangling