From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtangletan‧gle1 /ˈtæŋɡəl/ verb 1 MIX[intransitive, transitive] (also tangle up) to become twisted together, or make something become twisted together, in an untidy mass My hair tangles easily. His parachute became tangled in the wheels of the plane.2 [intransitive] to argue or fight with someonetangle with It was not an animal you’d care to tangle with.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
tangle• Viscosity, or resistance to flow, is a property of fluids containing long molecular chains that tangle and intertwine.• Seikaly and Kitchner tangled for several minutes before the referees separated them.• Birds can be injured by getting tangled in it, she says, or by swallowing hooks.• One arm went round his neck, her fingers tangling in the silky hair at his nape.• Zitney lay beside her, his firm, lean shoulder in the air, the sheet tangled negligently around his bronzed arm.• But it tangles up all the time!• The future of machines lies in the tangled weeds underfoot.• You don't want to tangle with rutting stags, however.tangle with• I did not want to be in a tangle with the press.tangletangle2 noun [countable] 1 MIXa twisted mass of something such as hair or thread Her hair was full of tangles after being out in the wind.tangle of John was sitting on the floor in a tangle of blankets.tangle of bushes/branches/vegetation etc She followed him, pushing through the dense tangle of bushes and branches.2 CONFUSEDa confused state or situationtangle of Her brain was teeming with a whole tangle of emotions.3 informalARGUEFIGHT a quarrel or fighttangle with She got into a tangle with the staff.Examples from the Corpus
tangle• He collided with the Guardsmen, and they went down in a tangle.• Men and horses went down like ninepins before them, in a tangle of waving limbs, flailing hooves and broken lances.• In a functional sense, spillover was founded on the belief that contemporary economies were based upon a tangle of interrelated sectors.• Out of this fraught legal and financial tangle the bureau worker must work with the client to create order and stability.• It takes forever to comb the tangles out of my hair.• They can also be dangerous to small fish and fry, which might get stuck in the tangle of filaments and suffocate.• The tangle could last minutes or it could last hours.• Indeed, as I practice the technique, my nervousness and tongue tangles diminish.tangle of bushes/branches/vegetation etc• They had to force their way through a tangle of bushes and branches.• But still, there is something so human, almost intelligible, in that tangle of branches.• In summer, spotted flycatchers intercept insects emerging from the tangle of vegetation beneath.tangle of emotions• Over the weeks, as Matthew experienced his tangle of emotions, his depression lifted.• It forced me to confront a messy tangle of emotions.• Her brain was teeming with a whole tangle of emotions that she could barely sort out.Origin tangle1 (1300-1400) Probably from a Scandinavian language 