n. 1 confusion, knot, gnarl, mesh, snarl, twist, kink, entanglement, jam, snag, jumble, mess, skein, web, coil It took hours to straighten out the tangle of ribbons 2 muddle, complication, jumble, puzzle, medley, complexity, complication, scramble, mishmash, mix-up, hotchpotch or US and Canadian also hodgepodge, jungle, maze, labyrinth She was rather bewildered by the vast tangle of information on the subject
v. 3 Often, tangle up. confuse, knot, mesh, snarl, gnarl, twist, kink, ravel, entangle, jam, snag, intertwist, intertwine, interlace, interweave, jumble, mess up, scramble, shuffle, muddle Now you've tangled all the ribbons I carefully straightened out earlier 4 Often, tangle with. wrangle (with), contend (with), fight (with or against), (come into) conflict (with), come or go up against, lock horns (with), dispute, cross swords (with), disagree (with) The sheriff is the last person I want to tangle with