as in to fumble
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way
you've mangled this so badly that we'll have to do it over
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Recent Examples of mangle
The incident, which left his blue vintage vehicle mangled, also injured his girlfriend, Leticia Cline.
—
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
And, to mangle an old saying, in the land of non-duplexing and manual-duplexing ADFs, the reversing ADF is king.
—PC Magazine, 28 Aug. 2025
Fatal crashes with pedestrians ‘mangle their bodies’ In 2023, over 1,300 people died in California in crashes that were determined to involve speeds over the speed limit or speeds that were unsafe for the current conditions.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025
The Ed Gein Story jumps around in time, in part to make connections to the other adaptations and in part because the biographical chronology is so mangled that any distraction is welcome.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for mangle
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
And, to mangle an old saying, in the land of non-duplexing and manual-duplexing ADFs, the reversing ADF is king.
—PC Magazine, 28 Aug. 2025
Fatal crashes with pedestrians ‘mangle their bodies’ In 2023, over 1,300 people died in California in crashes that were determined to involve speeds over the speed limit or speeds that were unsafe for the current conditions.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 14 Aug. 2025
The Ed Gein Story jumps around in time, in part to make connections to the other adaptations and in part because the biographical chronology is so mangled that any distraction is welcome.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for mangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mangle
Verb
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Ball security The Hurricanes have fumbled the ball four times in the past two games and lost two of them — one apiece by Malachi Toney (first round against Texas A&M) and Fletcher (quarterfinal against Ohio State).—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
7 Jan. 2026
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Herbert, who threw four interceptions in his last postseason appearance, fumbled five times after only coughing up the ball twice in his first 12 games this season.—
Greg Dudek,
Boston Herald,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Straight line winds can blow down trees, power lines, and damage mobile homes and other buildings.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Nov. 2025
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The Buffalo Bills were left stunned in Miami on Sunday afternoon as the Dolphins blew them out 30-13 in a crucial AFC East rivalry game.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Soon, Wegovy and Zepbound will be sold on a new website—dubbed TrumpRx—for only about $250 a month, a fraction of their current retail price of more than $1,000.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
7 Nov. 2025
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The observatory is conducting a ten-year-long survey of the southern sky, dubbed the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which has as one of its principal goals improving our understanding of the nature of both dark energy and dark matter.—
Ian Randall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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And, from this week’s issue, Nicola Twilley’s reporting on another lingering effect of the wildfires—smoke taint that is ruining grapes and threatening California’s wine industry.—
Dana Goodyear,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
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This will either change your life or ruin you.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The most minor miscalculation can botch a landing.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Sure enough, Rico Dowdle slipped (again), botched the pitchback (which Bryce Young tried to pick up rather than immediately dive on, unfortunately channeling Cam Newton in the Super Bowl) and the Bucs recovered.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Late in the second period, the Blue Jackets, still leading 4-1, continually butchered the puck in their own zone, almost presenting it to the Penguins as an offering.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
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The same day, a friend sent him an article about pig-butchering schemes.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
29 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The Chiefs bungled it in more ways than one, more than that fourth-down call, even if the most glaring is the decision to settle for three.—
Sam McDowell
November 4,
Kansas City Star,
4 Nov. 2025
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Gentleman thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) circles the prize while Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bungles the pursuit with sublime obliviousness.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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So, automation can be used to destroy labor or workers’ power, but it can also be used in the opposite direction.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
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Homes, businesses and synagogues were destroyed.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mangle. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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