mangle

1 of 3

verb (1)

man·​gle ˈmaŋ-gəl How to pronounce mangle (audio)
mangled; mangling ˈmaŋ-g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce mangle (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to injure with deep disfiguring wounds by cutting, tearing, or crushing
people … mangled by sharksV. G. Heiser
2
: to spoil, injure, or make incoherent especially through ineptitude
a story mangled beyond recognition

mangle

2 of 3

noun

: a machine for ironing laundry by passing it between heated rollers

mangle

3 of 3

verb (2)

mangled; mangling ˈmaŋ-g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce mangle (audio)

transitive verb

: to press or smooth (something, such as damp linen) with a mangle

Did you know?

If you’re an aficionado of ironing appliances, you may be steamed that we did not highlight the noun mangle (“a machine for ironing laundry by passing it between heated rollers”) or its related verb (“to press or smooth with a mangle”) for today’s Word of the Day. You may even believe we mangled it! We concede, even if we fail to entirely smooth things over, that mangle is a perfectly fine word, coming as it does from the Dutch word mangel (not to be confused with the beet), but it is less commonly encountered than the mangle that means “to ruin or injure”; that mangle is unrelated, coming instead from Anglo-French. Its path in English has followed a trajectory similar to that of butcher, moving swiftly from applying to a violent action to a figurative use meaning “to bungle.”

Choose the Right Synonym for mangle

maim, mutilate, mangle mean to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage.

maim implies the loss or injury of a body part.

maimed by a shark

mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.

a tree mutilated by inept pruning

mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

Examples of mangle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Names were mispronounced, a White actor played the Native Sokka, and (fans felt) various characterizations were mangled. Olivia McCormack, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024 Violin, double bass, and a whole lot of synthesizers and guitar pedals and samplers and things which are great for mangling sounds. Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 15 Feb. 2024 The Tony Award winner, whose name was infamously mangled by John Travolta during the 2014 Oscars telecast, is laughing at the infamous flub a decade later. Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Her left leg — mangled in the airstrike that killed her brother, sister and mother — was held in a cast buttressed by metal joints and rods. Marc Smith, NBC News, 26 Jan. 2024 That said, old tropes die hard, and this one — the hapless son who’s been emotionally mangled by a monster mother — has been entrenched in movies and television for close to 75 years. Mark Harris Keita Morimoto, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024 The explosion mangled the overhead door to the parking garage so badly that firefighters had to pry it open and prop it up with wooden beams. Journal Sentinel, 17 Jan. 2024 Michigan State Police are investigating a vicious crash on northbound I-75 late Wednesday that mangled a patrol car and hospitalized a trooper and prisoner who was inside. Kylie Martin, Detroit Free Press, 11 Jan. 2024 While walking across a rail line with a load of steel pipes, he was struck by a train and one of his legs was mangled. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2023
Noun
Dufour fired up a commercial dough sheeter (like a mangle for pastry). Nina Mesfin, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023 Without the closed captioning, viewers may not have been able to understand the rapid-fire word mangles spilling from Mr. Biden’s mouth. Kenneth L. Khachigian, wsj.com, 7 May 2023 So - has your mother sold her mangle? Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2010 This is a really powerful moment in the film, and our feelings about it are helpful in untangling our own mangle of thoughts about identity and death. Malcolm MacIver, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2010

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mangle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French mangler, mahangler, perhaps from mahaigner to maim — more at mayhem

Noun

Dutch mangel, from German, from Middle High German, diminutive of mange mangonel, mangle, from Latin manganum

First Known Use

Verb (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1696, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

circa 1775, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mangle was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near mangle

Cite this Entry

“Mangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mangle. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mangle

1 of 3 verb
man·​gle ˈmaŋ-gəl How to pronounce mangle (audio)
mangled; mangling -g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce mangle (audio)
1
: to cut, bruise, or hack with repeated blows or strokes
2
: to spoil or injure in making or performing : botch
mangle a speech
mangler noun

mangle

2 of 3 noun
: a machine for ironing laundry by passing it between heated rollers

mangle

3 of 3 verb
mangled; mangling -g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce mangle (audio)
: to press or smooth with a mangle
mangler noun

More from Merriam-Webster on mangle

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