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Glite Dictionary
to put through the mangle

to put through the mangle

8.9
Treat someone or something very harshly and damage them
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : someter a un proceso duro
  • After facing so many tough questions, he felt he had been put through the mangle.

Examples

  • The manuscript was put through the mangle by the editor before publication.

  • The project manager puts the team through the mangle during deadlines.

  • My proposal was put through the mangle during the review meeting, but I finally got approval.

  • She put through the mangle all the applicants.

  • He felt like he had been put through the mangle after the intense training sessions.

  • The students were put through the mangle during the final exams, with endless assignments and reviews.

  • Her proposal was put through the mangle by the committee, enduring criticism and numerous revisions.

Synonyms

to run the gauntlet
vsto put through the mangle
3 8.1

To face many difficult questions or strong criticism

covers harsh damaging processes, not only public criticism
to go through the wringer
vsto put through the mangle
  • Informal
7.6

To experience a very difficult and stressful time

is harsh but can mean any rigorous damaging process
to go through the mill
vsto put through the mangle
  • Informal
7.2

To experience many hard tests or problems

focuses on a single harsh damaging process rather than repeated stages

Antonyms

to spare
206 3.3

Keep someone from having to do something unpleasant

to pamper
42 3.7

To give someone too much care and special treatment

How Harsh

to destroy
∞ 1.0
to put through the mangle
  • UK
8.9
to treat
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

put through the mangle infinitive
put through the mangle past
put through the mangle past participle
putting through the mangle present participle
puts through the mangle third person singular

Morphology

put + through + the + mangle

The sense 'to subject someone to a harsh or damaging process' is directly derivable from combining 'put' (place into a state) + 'through' (completely, from start to finish) with 'mangle' (to tear/crush/mutilate); the literal image of being mangled conveys the intended force of treatment. The construction 'put X through Y' is a productive, compositional pattern (cf. 'put through the wringer') and is therefore predictable to a learner who knows the constituent words and their meanings.

Etymology

Put through the mangle comes from an old laundry machine called a mangle, where wet clothes were forced between heavy rollers and came out crushed or damaged. So, to say someone was put through the mangle means they were 'treated harshly' or forced through a very hard process.