tangle

1. (transitive) To mix together or intertwine.Synonyms: entangle, knot, mat, snarltransitive

2. (intransitive) To become mixed together or intertwined.Examples: "Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind."; "By the afternoon it seemed as if the storm had passed and that frost was setting in; but in the evening the wind rose to gale force, bringing telegraph poles down like skittles and tangling power and telephone lines."Synonyms: dishevel, tousleAntonyms: untangle, unsnarlintransitive

3. (intransitive, figurative) To enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.Examples: "Don't tangle with someone three times your size."; "He tangled with the law."; "Compared to the last time they'd tangled with the U.S. Navy's carriers, the antiaircraft fire had been much, much more effective, even if the Wildcats hadn't done particularly well in their intercepts. They couldn't know it, of course, but the officer aboard Enterprise who'd recommended recarpeting the ship with 20-mm Oerlikons had, at least partially, been listened to, and the effect on the Japanese Navy's elite aircrews had been devastating."Synonyms: argue, conflict, dispute, fightfigurativelyintransitive

4. (transitive) To catch and hold.Examples: "tangled in amorous nets"; "When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways."; "This is a book about the potential for the reclamation, reform, and enlightened transformation of the most expansive elements of the liberal tradition— that social and economic justice remain tangled in liberalism's web of pretentious institutions and betrayed promises is the reason for this battle from within."Synonyms: ensnare, entraptransitive