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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. i.
To be entangled or united confusedly; to get in a tangle.
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Tangle \Tan"gle\, n.
1. [Cf. Icel. [thorn]["o]ngull. See {Tang} seaweed.] (Bot.)
Any large blackish seaweed, especially the {Laminaria
saccharina}. See {Kelp}.
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Coral and sea fan and tangle, the blooms and the
palms of the ocean. --C. Kingsley.
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2. [From {Tangle}, 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.
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3. pl. 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.
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{Blue tangle}. (Bot.)See {Dangleberry}.

{Tangle picker} (Zool.), the turnstone. [Prov. Eng.]
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Tangle \Tan"gle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tangled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Tangling}.] [A frequentative fr. tang seaweed; hence, to
twist like seaweed. See {Tang} seaweed, and cf. {Tangle}, n.]
1. 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.
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2. To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in
lies. "Tangled in amorous nets." --Milton.
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When my simple weakness strays,
Tangled in forbidden ways. --Crashaw.
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