Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cause to become twisted together or caught in a snarl or entwining mass.
  • transitive verb To involve in a complicated situation or in circumstances from which it is difficult to disengage: synonym: catch.
  • transitive verb Physics To cause (the quantum states of two or more objects) to become correlated in such a way that they remain correlated, even though the objects are separated spatially.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To tangle; intermix the parts of confusedly; make confused or disordered: as, to entangle the hair. See tangle.
  • To insnare; involve, so as to render extrication difficult; subject to constraining or bewildering complications: as, to entangle fish in the meshes of a net; to entangle a person in a labyrinth.
  • To involve in difficulties or embarrassments; embarrass, puzzle, or distract by adverse or perplexing circumstances, interests, demands, etc.; hamper; bewilder.
  • Synonyms To tangle, knot, snarl, mat.
  • Involve, etc. See implicate.
  • To confuse, mystify.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated; to make tangled, confused, and intricate.
  • transitive verb To involve in such complications as to render extrication a bewildering difficulty; hence, metaphorically, to insnare; to perplex; to bewilder; to puzzle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To tangle; to twist or interweave in such a manner as not to be easily separated; to make confused and intricate; as, to entangle yarn or the hair.
  • verb To involve in such complications as to render extrication difficult; hence, metaphorically, to insnare; to perplex; to bewilder; to puzzle; as, to entangle the feet in a net, or in briers.
  • verb To involve in difficulties or embarrassments; to embarrass, puzzle, or distract by adverse or perplexing circumstances, interests, demands, etc.; to hamper; to bewilder.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb entrap
  • verb twist together or entwine into a confusing mass

Etymologies

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