Definition of tangle

• n. - To unite or knit together confusedly; to interweave or interlock, as threads, so as to make it difficult to unravel the knot; to entangle; to ravel.
• n. - To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in lies.
• v. i. - To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
• n. - Any large blackish seaweed, especially the Laminaria saccharina. See Kelp.
• v. - A knot of threads, or other thing, united confusedly, or so interwoven as not to be easily disengaged; a snarl; as, hair or yarn in tangles; a tangle of vines and briers. Used also figuratively.
• v. - An instrument consisting essentially of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, -- used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.