entangle

«entangle» in Mova's school dictionary: To catch something in a tangle of string, net, rope, hair… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (entangle, entangles, entangled, entangling)

meaning for a pupil

1) To catch something in a tangle of string, net, rope, hair or wire so it cannot get free. tree →

2) To twist things together in a mess. tree →

3) To get someone involved in a difficult or messy situation. tree →

sense in the lessons

In nature and safety lessons: animals can get entangled in fishing nets, plastic rings or litter — a reason to pick up rubbish. In stories, people become «entangled in» lies, quarrels or plots. Often passive: «get entangled», «become entangled in».

examples

• The turtle became entangled in an old fishing net. tree →
• Don't let the kite string entangle the branches. tree →
• My headphone wires always entangle in my bag. tree →
• The fly was entangled in the spider's web. tree →
• Cut plastic rings so birds cannot get entangled in them. tree →
• He didn't want to entangle himself in their argument. tree →
• The vines entangle the old fence. tree →

note

Regular verb. Usually used with «in» or «with»: entangled in a net. Similar to «tangle», but entangle stresses being caught and trapped. Opposite: disentangle (untangle).

In the corpora

• And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel: They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
• Upon my right hand rise the brood; they entangle my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «entangle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.