to entangle around
1
6.4
- phrasal verb
:
enredar alrededor
- Her hair would always entangle around her necklace if she wasn’t careful.
Examples
-
As the roots entangled around the stone, they became impossible to separate.
-
The cables began to entangle around the legs of the chair.
-
The vines entangle around the old tree.
-
Don't let the rope entangle around your feet!
-
The vines entangled around the fence, creating a natural barrier.
-
She tried to carefully remove the thread that had entangled around her finger.
-
As the kite flew higher, the string entangled around the branches of the tree.
Synonyms
231
1.7
To turn something so it becomes a curved or spiral shape
225
3.2
To wrap something around another thing in a coil
78
3.4
Cover something by winding a cloth around it
62
3.5
To make cloth by crossing threads or to join things into a single piece
46
5.4
Twist things together so they become joined or tangled
46
3.7
To twist things together so they are hard to pull apart
21
5.4
To twist things together, often like plants or rope
12
3.9
To twist threads or materials together to make a braid
9
7.8
To catch something in a net or a difficult situation
6
5.1
To cross things like fingers or strings so they hold together
6
4.9
Twist things together so they are hard to separate
4
6.3
To mix different things closely together, like threads or melodies
1
4.1
To twist threads together or wind them around something
1
8.4
Twist or coil together into a tight, tangled mass
1
9.3
To catch something in a net or trap so it cannot move
1
9.2
To join things by twisting or linking them together
To twist something into a tight coil
To wrap something by turning it around another object
To wind or twist inward in a spiral like a snail's shell
To twist or coil together into a spiral shape
To twist threads or branches together to make something stronger
To put threads or parts into something by crossing them to make a pattern
Antonyms
How Wrapped
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to twist or weave something so that it winds intricately around something else' is directly composed from 'entangle' (to twist or entwine making separation difficult) plus 'around' (moving or positioned circularly about something). This is a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The verb entangle around comes from a clear picture: imagine vines, roots, or long hair twisting and wrapping themselves tightly around a post, stone, or necklace. Because of that image, entangle, meaning 'to twist', plus around, meaning 'to wrap', now means 'to wrap tightly around something' or 'to become stuck by wrapping'.