to tangle with

Examples

• All

• Politicians often tangle with the media over sensitive issues during campaigns.

• You'll have an awful battle on your hands if you tangle with vanderbilt.

  The Toast of New York (1937)

• Best not to tangle with the police in China and Russia.

  TransSiberian (2008)

• We have been tangling with this fool for years.

  Blog text (26)

• They say that those who tangle with you leave wishing they had not.

  Samson (2018)

• Nobody wants to tangle with the great Galadriel Hopkins.

  Academic text (2001)

• Children's television has done this while being one of the first mass mediums to tangle with thorny social issues.

  Blog text (4)

• You should never tangle with the unstoppable duo of Woody and Buzz Lightyear!

  Toy Story 2 (1999)

• He realized that it was a mistake to tangle with the company's legal team over the contract.

• The athlete knew better than to tangle with the fierce competition at the championship.

Synonyms

G

to get into

vsto tangle with

769 3.1

Become involved in something, often without meaning to

involves joining a conflict specifically, not just casual involvement

I

to interfere

vsto tangle with

487 3.5

To get involved in a situation and make things not work as they should

means to get involved in a conflict or struggle rather than merely disturb

M

to mess

vsto tangle with

• Informal

368 6.0

To bother someone to make them angry or upset

means to become involved in a conflict rather than simply provoke

S

to struggle

vsto tangle with

139 2.7

To fight against someone or something, often with great effort

is about becoming involved in a conflict rather than active fighting

W

to wrestle

vsto tangle with

121 3.9

To struggle with a difficult problem or decision

is about becoming involved in opposition with another rather than internal struggle

C

to clash

vsto tangle with

46 3.1

To disagree strongly with another person or group

involves conflict but not necessarily forceful or emotional

W

to wrangle

vsto tangle with

6 6.8

To argue loudly for a long time

is broader, covering involvement not only prolonged noisy argument

W

to wind up in trouble

vsto tangle with

• Informal

1 4.8

To end up in a difficult situation because of your choices

focuses on joining an oppositional struggle rather than only ending in trouble

Antonyms

A

to avoid

∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

D

to disengage

82 5.3

To stop being part of or connected to something

How Hostile

attack

∞ 1.4

to fight

∞ 1.0

to tangle with

21 6.5

to clash

46 3.1

to argue

607 1.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology