Meaning & use
entangle
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To catch or twist something so that it cannot easily move or be separated.
Grammar: Takes an object and often a thing in which it is caught: the net entangled the dolphin.
Patterns
- entangle something in something
- get entangled in something
Fishing lines can entangle seabirds and injure them.
Her hair became entangled in the zipper.
The cables were entangled so badly that it took an hour to unravel them.
verbtransitivefigurative
To involve someone in a difficult or complicated situation.
Grammar: Often used in the passive, with in or with: he was entangled in a lawsuit.
Patterns
- entangle someone in something
- get entangled with someone
The scandal entangled several senior officials.
He was entangled in a complicated legal dispute for years.
Don't entangle me in your family quarrel.
Word forms
| third person singular | entangles |
|---|---|
| past tense | entangled |
| past participle | entangled |
| -ing form | entangling |
Common combinations
- become entangled
- The kite became entangled in a tree.
- entangled in a web
- The fly was entangled in a web.
- entangle yourself
- Try not to entangle yourself in office politics.
- entangling alliances
- The leaders feared entangling alliances.
- legally entangled
- The company was legally entangled for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tangle
- Tangle is the plainer word for knotting things up, while entangle often suggests being caught or trapped.
- ensnare
- Ensnare implies trapping something like prey, whereas entangle suggests getting caught in a mess.
- embroil
- Embroil is used only for involving someone in a dispute or trouble, not physical tangling.
- implicate
- Implicate means to show that someone is involved in a crime, which is narrower than entangle.
Opposites
Word family
- entanglement noun
- a complicated situation or a tangled mass
- entangled adjective
- twisted together or caught up in something
- disentangle verb
- to separate things that are tangled
- tangle noun
- a twisted, confused mass
Commonly confused: entangle or untangle?
entangle vs untangle
Untangle means to undo knots, which is the opposite of entangle.
Practice
The diver got ______ in a fishing net and had to cut his way out.
Choose one answer.
Got entangled uses the past participle after get. Entangle and entangling are the wrong forms here, and tangible means able to be touched.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “entangle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.