mangle
1 of 3verb (1)
transitive verb
V. G. Heisermangle
2 of 3noun
mangle
3 of 3verb (2)
transitive verb
Did you know?
Besides the "mutilate" verb mangle, English has the noun mangle ("a machine for ironing laundry by passing it between heated rollers") and its related verb ("to press or smooth with a mangle"). There's no etymological relationship, however, between that pair and the mangle that means "to mutilate or bungle." The ironing-related homographs come from Dutch and ultimately from a Latin word that also gave English mangonel, the name for a military engine used to hurl missiles. The injury-related mangle comes from Anglo-French and may be a relation of the words maim and mayhem via Anglo-French mahaigner, "to maim."
Synonyms
Verb (1)
- blow
- bobble
- boggle
- bollix (up)
- boot
- botch
- bugger (up)
- bumble
- bungle
- butcher
- dub
- flub
- fluff
- foozle
- foul up
- fumble
- goof (up)
- louse up
- mess (up)
- muck up
- muff
- murder
- screw up
Word History
Verb (1)
Middle English, from Anglo-French mangler, mahangler, perhaps from mahaigner to maim — more at mayhem
Noun
Dutch mangel, from German, from Middle High German, diminutive of mange mangonel, mangle, from Latin manganum
Verb (1)
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1696, in the meaning defined above
Verb (2)
circa 1775, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
mangle
verb
mangle
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- fumble
- blow
- dub
- botch
- bungle
- ruin
- boot
- butcher
- murder
- destroy
- mar
- spoil
- boggle
- muff
- flub
- injure
- fluff
- damage
- foozle
- mutilate
- muck up
- screw up
- bumble
- bobble
- foul up
- louse up
- wreck
- impair
- muddle
- hurt
- bollix (up)
- flaw
- blunder
- harm
- piffle
- goof (up)
- blight
- bugger (up)
- vitiate
- blemish
- mismanage
- mishandle
- mess (up)
- gum (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- refine
- improve
- enhance
- better
- help
- ameliorate
- rectify
- remedy
- reform
- patch
- repair
- fix
- meliorate
- revamp
- renovate
- recondition
- doctor
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of mangle are batter, cripple, maim, and mutilate. While all these words mean "to injure so severely as to cause lasting damage," mangle implies a tearing or crushing that leaves deep wounds.
Although the words batter and mangle have much in common, batter implies a series of blows that bruise deeply, deform, or mutilate.
While in some cases nearly identical to mangle, cripple implies the loss or serious impairment of an arm or leg.
The meanings of maim and mangle largely overlap; however, maim implies the loss or injury of a bodily member through violence.
The synonyms mutilate and mangle are sometimes interchangeable, but mutilate implies the cutting off or removal of an essential part of a person or thing thereby impairing its completeness, beauty, or function.