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Tangle vs Struggle - What's the difference?

tangle | struggle |

As verbs the difference between tangle and struggle

is that tangle is to become mixed together or intertwined while struggle is to strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for or against), to contend.

As nouns the difference between tangle and struggle

is that tangle is a tangled twisted mass while struggle is strife, contention, great effort.

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

    struggle

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Strife, contention, great effort.
  • *, chapter=23
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The struggle with ways and means had recommenced, more difficult now a hundredfold than it had been before, because of their increasing needs. Their income disappeared as a little rivulet that is swallowed by the thirsty ground. He worked night and day to supplement it.}}

    Verb

    (struggl)
  • To strive, to labour in difficulty, to fight (for'' or ''against ), to contend.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , passage=England were ponderous with ball in hand, their runners static when taking the ball and their lines obvious, while their front row struggled badly in the scrum.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
    • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.}}
  • To strive, or to make efforts, with a twisting, or with contortions of the body.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

    • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See