mangle Hear it!

mangle¹ Definition

man·gle (maŋgəl)

transitive verb -·gled, -·gling

  1. to mutilate or disfigure by repeatedly and roughly cutting, tearing, hacking, or crushing; lacerate and bruise badly
  2. to spoil; botch; mar; garble to mangle a text

Etymology: ME manglen < Anglo-Fr mangler, prob. freq. of OFr mehaigner, maim

mangle¹ Related Forms
man·gler noun
mangle² Definition

man·gle (maŋgəl)

noun

a machine for pressing and smoothing cloth, esp. sheets and other flat pieces, between heated rollers

Etymology: Du mangel < Ger < MHG, dim. of mange, a mangle < L manganum < Gr manganon, war machine, orig. deceptive device < IE base *meng-, to embellish deceptively > MIr meng, deceit, L mango, falsifying dealer

transitive verb -·gled, -·gling

to press in a mangle

mangle² Related Forms
man·gler noun
mangle Synonyms

mangle

n.

press, iron, electric ironer; see iron 3.

mangle Synonyms

mangle

v.

  1. To mutilate

    tear, lacerate, crush, wound, injure, cripple, maim, rend, disfigure, cut, hack, flay, slit, hash, butcher, slash, slice, carve, bruise, mutilate, mar, botch, spoil, deform, maul, batter; see also damage 1, destroy 1, maim. See syn. study at maim.

  2. To iron with a power roller

    steam press, smooth, iron; see press 2.

mangle Usage Examples

Object

  • wreckage: Here we see the mangled wreckage still in flames.
  • corpse: Her mangled corpse was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.
  • corps: The beasts tore the victims limb from limb and made poor mangled corpses of them in the twinkling of an eye.
  • limb: Children have been born without eyes, with twisted, mangled limbs, even without brains.
  • mess: You may see a more bloody badger end, A squashed and mangled mess as you motor past the hedgerows.
  • body: Their mangled bodies were flung into the streets; the gutters were choked with their blood.

Converse of object

  • use: Behind them a third girl is using a small mangle to wring out the clothes.
  • turn: Then I worked for a lady and turned the mangle which was seemingly hard work.
  • have: We had a big wooden mangle out in the back yard.

Adjective modifier

  • big: We had a big wooden mangle out in the back yard.

Modifies a noun

  • table: The mangle table is more rarely used to implement traffic control policies, for example altering the quality of service options of packets.

Modifying Another Word

  • horribly: Every second, more bodies mount up, horribly mangled.
  • badly: A wealth of information, posters, photographs, interviews and of course title sequences but mangled badly by whoever organized it.
  • completely: Both forward aluminum ladders were completely mangled by the bad weather.
  • so: The English names were often so mangled by Spanish printers that it was hard to make them out.
  • not: We were not mangled in our creation; God, that made the whole, must have the whole.
  • all: The front of the bus was all mangled and the windscreen was totally shattered.

Noun used with modifier

  • box: Examples of the box mangle can be seen locally in the Oakham County Museum.

Preposition: of

  • language: I apologize to any native Welsh speakers who are appalled by my tortured mangling of this beautiful language.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • up: He shouldn't be in the game if he ain't willing to mangle up his body.
mangle Quotes

I pass my whole life, miss, in turning an immense pecuniary Mangle.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam