Synonym Chooser

How does the verb mangle contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of mangle are batter, cripple, maim, and mutilate. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.

a soldier's leg mangled by shrapnel

When would batter be a good substitute for mangle?

Although the words batter and mangle have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.

an old ship battered by fierce storms

When could cripple be used to replace mangle?

While in some cases nearly identical to mangle, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.

crippled for life in an accident

When is maim a more appropriate choice than mangle?

The meanings of maim and mangle largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.

maimed by a shark

Where would mutilate be a reasonable alternative to mangle?

The synonyms mutilate and mangle are sometimes interchangeable, but 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mangle Their family of 11 is living in a tent alongside heaps of concrete and mangled steel that now lie where their home once stood. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025 Images showed an uprooted tree smashed into a mobile home while mangled debris littered the streets. Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025 Comedian Roseanne Barr mangled it. Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025 The severance can mangle their sense of freedom, marring liberation with guilt and anger. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mangle
Verb
  • The stress of getting to your airport gate on time, coupled with the excitement of getting to your destination, can cause even the most seasoned of travelers to fumble at security checkpoints.
    Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 17 May 2025
  • For example, if an officer sees someone swerving, fumbling with items, or clearly not paying attention to the road, the interior light might factor into a citation for reckless or inattentive driving.
    Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • That’s just the beginning, though—keep scrolling for more deals sure to blow you away (no pun intended).
    Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 23 May 2025
  • Julia snuck some matchstick carrots into the potato mixture, then blew my socks off with a punchy, springy topping of feta, mint, dill, and chives.
    Josh Miller, Southern Living, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • For decades, the set of remains were dubbed Scattered Man John Doe until New Jersey State Police teamed up with the Ramapo College of New Jersey’s Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center to identified the person.
    David Matthews, New York Daily News, 22 May 2025
  • The temperatures for late May, even this far north, have plummeted, making the inhospitable terrain of northern Finland even tougher for the Finnish, Swedish and British soldiers halfway through joint live-fire exercises, dubbed Northern Strike 125, in Europe's largest training ground, Rovajärvi.
    Ellie Cook — reporting from Rovajärvi, northern Finland, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
  • Thessaloniki, Greece Greece is an iconic travel destination with ancient history, ruins steeped in lore, and picture-perfect Mediterranean beaches.
    Kathleen Peddicord, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • Mahdi’s legal team filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday saying that the execution was botched.
    Viola Flowers, NBC news, 9 May 2025
  • Critics say Guarino botched data analysis in the O'Keefe case as well.
    N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 7 May 2025
Verb
  • The rest of the animal was butchered and the resulting cuts of meat distributed.
    Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 16 May 2025
  • Some of the bustard remains show evidence of being butchered and cooked, with cut marks similar to those made on modern-day turkeys after Thanksgiving, researchers said in an April 16 news release from the Natural History Museum in London.
    Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Further investigation showed that the department bungled follow-up care too, failing to investigate the sources of lead exposure for some children.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 9 May 2025
  • The ensuing play again defensively broke down for the Giants when Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman bungled the ground ball off Dansby Swanson’s bat as Crow-Armstrong’s presence at third and deke home coincided with the mishandle.
    Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2025
Verb
  • In order to retrieve the original source code of the Entity and destroy it, Hunt has to risk life and limb and dive into icy arctic waters to a sunken Soviet submarine teetering 500 feet underwater.
    Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
  • An embarrassing, humbling, shocking Game 5 defeat showed that. All the same problems, the ones that destroyed Leaf team after Leaf team and ultimately ended Sheldon Keefe’s time as head coach, are emerging again at the worst possible time.
    Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 15 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Mangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mangle. Accessed 29 May. 2025.

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