• n. 糾紛；混亂狀態(tài)
• vt. 使糾纏；處于混亂狀態(tài)
• vi. 纏結(jié)；亂作一團(tuán)

來自中古英語 tagilen,卷入，纏結(jié)，來自 Proto-Germanic*thangul,海藻，海草，詞源同 entangle. 比喻用法。

tangle (n.)

1610s, "a tangled condition, a snarl of threads," from tangle (v.).

tangle (v.)

mid-14c., nasalized variant of tagilen "to involve in a difficult situation, entangle," from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Swedish taggla "to disorder," Old Norse tongull "seaweed"), from Proto-Germanic *thangul- (cognates: Frisian tung, Dutch tang, German Tang "seaweed"); thus the original sense of the root evidently was "seaweed" as something that entangles (itself, or oars, or fishes, or nets). "The development of such a verb from a noun of limited use like tangle 1 is somewhat remarkable, and needs confirmation" [Century Dictionary]. In reference to material things, from c. 1500. Meaning "to fight with" is American English, first recorded 1928. Related: Tangled; tangling. Tanglefoot (1859) was Western American English slang for "strong whiskey."

1. Better not tangle with the censors. They're very vindictive.

最好別和檢查員發(fā)生沖突，他們可愛記仇了。

來自柯林斯例句

2. I was thinking what a tangle we had got ourselves into.

我在想，我們卷入了怎樣的紛爭之中。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Her hair tends to tangle.

她的頭發(fā)容易打結(jié)。

來自柯林斯例句

4. a tangle of branches

盤繞（糾結(jié)）在一起的樹枝

來自《權(quán)威詞典》

5. We employed a lawyer to straighten our legal tangle.

我們雇了一位律師把法律糾紛理出頭緒.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》