ravel

transitive verb raveled or ravelled, raveling or ravelling

1. Now Rare to make complicated or tangled: parts of his argument were all raveled up
2. to separate the parts, esp. threads, of; untwist; unweave; unravel
3. to make clear; disentangle

intransitive verb

1. to become separated into its parts, esp. threads; become unwoven; fray (out)
2. Archaic to become complicated or tangled

noun

1. a raveled part in a fabric; raveling
2. a tangled mass or complication