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wrangle.

To convince or influence (someone) by arguing or contending.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈɹæŋɡəl/[ˈɹʷæŋɡəl] ~ [ˈɹʷæŋɡl̩]/ˈɹeɪ̯ŋɡəl/Canada, US[ˈɹʷeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ŋɡl̩]Canada, US
  1. To convince or influence (someone) by arguing or contending.

    transitive
  2. Followed by out of: to elicit (something) from a person by arguing or bargaining.

    transitive
  3. To speak or write (something) in an argumentative or contentious manner.

    archaic · rare · transitive
  4. To spend (time) arguing or quarrelling.

    archaic · rare · transitive
  5. To herd (horses or other livestock).

    US · Western · transitive
  6. To herd (horses or other livestock). To manage or supervise (people).

    US · Western · broadly · humorous · transitive
  7. To herd (horses or other livestock). To gather and organize (data, facts, information, etc.), especially in a way which requires sentience rather than automated methods alone, as in data wrangling.

    US · Western · figuratively · transitive
  8. Followed by out of: to compel or drive (someone or something) away through arguing.

    obsolete · transitive
  9. Followed by out: to put forward arguments on (a case, a matter disagreed upon, etc.).

    obsolete · transitive
  10. To cause (oneself) grief through arguing or quarrelling.

    obsolete · reflexive · transitive
  11. To quarrel angrily and noisily; to bicker.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
  12. To make harsh noises as if quarrelling.

    intransitive
  13. To argue, to debate; also (dated), to debate or discuss publicly, especially about a thesis at a university.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English wranglen, wrangle (“to contend with (someone) in a test of strength; (figuratively) to make misleading arguments to entrap”); from a Middle Dutch or Middle Low German word related to Middle Dutch wrangen and Middle Low German wrangen (“to cause an uproar; to struggle, wrestle”) (whence Low German wrangeln (“to wrangle”)), related to Middle Dutch wringen (“to twist; to wrest; to wring; to struggle, wrestle”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze; to twist; to wring”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Danish vringle (“to twist, entangle”) * German rangeln (“to wrestle”)

noun/ˈɹæŋɡəl/[ˈɹʷæŋɡəl] ~ [ˈɹʷæŋɡl̩]/ˈɹeɪ̯ŋɡəl/Canada, US[ˈɹʷeɪ̯ŋɡəl] ~ [ˈɹʷeɪ̯ŋɡl̩]Canada, US
  1. An angry dispute; a noisy quarrel; an altercation.

    countable
  2. Angry disputation; noisy quarrelling.

    uncountable
    Wrangle and bloodshed followed thence.
  3. A contentious argument or response.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  4. A controversy.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English wranglen, wrangle (“to contend with (someone) in a test of strength; (figuratively) to make misleading arguments to entrap”); from a Middle Dutch or Middle Low German word related to Middle Dutch wrangen and Middle Low German wrangen (“to cause an uproar; to struggle, wrestle”) (whence Low German wrangeln (“to wrangle”)), related to Middle Dutch wringen (“to twist; to wrest; to wring; to struggle, wrestle”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wringaną (“to squeeze; to twist; to wring”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Danish vringle (“to twist, entangle”) * German rangeln (“to wrestle”)

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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.