entangle

verb

en·​tan·​gle in-ˈtaŋ-gəl 

en-

entangled; entangling; entangles

transitive verb

1

a

: to wrap or twist together : interweave

b

: ensnare

2

a

: to involve in a perplexing or troublesome situation

became entangled in a lawsuit

b

: to make complicated

the story is entangled with legends

entangler

in-ˈtaŋ-g(ə-)lər 

en-

noun

Synonyms of entangle

• knot
• tangle
• intertwine

Examples of entangle in a Sentence

in the process of taking down the Christmas tree, we managed to entangle the string of lights into a hopeless mess of wires

the young runaway gradually became entangled in a web of lies

Recent Examples on the Web

SpaceX is an unusually difficult case because so much of its value lies in distant, nonlinear and related-party-entangled businesses with little public operating history. — Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

Today, all of these layers are entangled in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the battle over territory and history converge. — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 21 July 2026

Archer’s main competitor in the air taxi space is Joby, a startup based in Santa Cruz that has been entangled in a bitter legal battle with Archer for more than a year. — Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026

Lucas will play Greg, a lawyer and the husband of Kidman’s powerful and formidable corporate law partner at the same prestigious firm entangled in a dark web of NDAs. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 20 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French entangler — more at tangle entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for entangle

• angle
• bangle
• dangle
• jangle
• mangle
• strangle
• tangle
• wrangle
• disentangle
• quadrangle
• triangle
• untangle

Kids Definition

entangle

verb

en·​tan·​gle in-ˈtaŋ-gəl 

1

: to make tangled or confused

2

: to involve in a tangle or a confusing or difficult situation

entanglement

-mənt

noun