overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tangle.

To mix together or intertwine.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈtæŋ.ɡəl/[ˈtæŋ.ɡəl] ~ [ˈtæŋ.ɡl̩]/ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/Canada, US[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡl̩]Canada, US
  1. To mix together or intertwine.

    transitive
  2. To become mixed together or intertwined.

    intransitive
    Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.
  3. To enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

    figuratively · intransitive
    Don't tangle with someone three times your size.
    He tangled with the law.
  4. To catch and hold.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈtæŋ.ɡəl/[ˈtæŋ.ɡəl] ~ [ˈtæŋ.ɡl̩]/ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/Canada, US[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡl̩]Canada, US
  1. A tangled twisted mass.

  2. A complicated or confused state or condition.

    I tried to sort through this tangle and got nowhere.
  3. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

  4. A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

  5. A paired helical fragment of tau protein found in a nerve cell and associated with Alzheimer's disease.

  6. A form of art which consists of sections filled with repetitive patterns.

Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈtæŋ.ɡəl/[ˈtæŋ.ɡəl] ~ [ˈtæŋ.ɡl̩]/ˈteɪ̯ŋɡəl/Canada, US[ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋɡl̩]Canada, US
  1. Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.

    countable · uncountable
  2. 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.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
  3. Any long hanging thing, even a lanky person.

    Scotland · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

tangle has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

tangle studiotangle workshello, tangle

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.