Tangle vs Frizzle - What's the difference?

tangle | frizzle | Related terms |

In intransitive terms the difference between tangle and frizzle

is that tangle is to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight while frizzle is to fry noisily.

In transitive terms the difference between tangle and frizzle

is that tangle is to catch and hold while frizzle is to scorch.

tangle

English

(wikipedia tangle)

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; apparently a variant form of (tagle).

Verb

(tangl)

to become mixed together or intertwined

Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.

to be forced into some kind of situation

to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight

Don't tangle with someone three times your size.

He tangled with the law.

to mix together or intertwine

to catch and hold

* Milton

Tangled in amorous nets.

* Crashaw

When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

Synonyms

* (to become mixed together or intertwined) dishevel, tousle * (to be forced into some kind of situation) drag, drag in, embroil, sweep, sweep up * argue, conflict, dispute, fight * (to mix together or intertwine) entangle, knot, mat, snarl * (to catch and hold) entrap

Antonyms

* (to mix together or intertwine) untangle, unsnarl

Noun

(en noun)

A tangled twisted mass.

A complicated or confused state or condition.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}

An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

(mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

Synonyms

* (tangled twisted mass) knot, mess, snarl * (complicated or confused state or condition) maze, snarl * argument, conflict, dispute, fight

Etymology 2

Of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic .

Noun

(en noun)

Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria .

* 1849 , , In Memoriam , 10:

Than if with thee the roaring wells / Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; / And hands so often clasped in mine, / Should toss with tangle and with shells.

(in the plural) An instrument consisting essentiallly of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.

External links

* * *

Anagrams

* English ergative verbs

frizzle

English

Alternative forms

* (l), (l), (l), (l)

Verb

(en-verb)

(label) To fry something until crisp and curled.

(label) To scorch.

*{{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild

, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=3 , passage=It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. And results are all that concern me. […]”}}

(label) To fry noisily.

To curl or crisp, as hair; to frizz; to crinkle.

(Gay)

Noun

(en noun)

A curl; a lock of hair crisped.

* 1911 , (Jack London), The Whale Tooth

*:The frizzle -headed man-eaters were loath to leave their fleshpots so long as the harvest of human carcases was plentiful. Sometimes, when the harvest was too plentiful, they imposed on the missionaries by letting the word slip out that on such a day there would be a killing and a barbecue.