snarl

Definition

To entangle; to complicate; to involve in knots.

Etymology

From Middle English snarlen, frequentative of snaren (“to trap, tangle”). Equivalent to snare + -le.

Example Sentences

• "to snarl a skein of thread"
• "And from her backe her garments she did teare, / And from her head oft rent her snarled heare[…]"
• "November 9, 1550, Hugh Latimer, Sermon Preached at Stanford [the] question that they would have snarled him with"