| 释义 |
entangle, v.|ɛnˈtæŋg(ə)l|
Also 6 entangel, 6–8 intangle.
[f. en-1 + tangle n. and v.
(The primary reference may have been to boats or oars caught in ‘tangle’ or sea-weed (this being the original sense of the n.), but the wider sense appears in our earliest quots.)]
I. To catch or impede with a tangle.
1. trans. To involve, impede, cause to stick fast in coils, network, or anything ‘tangled’ or interlaced. Hence in wider sense: To involve in surroundings that impede movement, or from which extrication is difficult.
α1555Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iii. (Arb.) 77 Attemptinge to goo throwgh the grasse & herbes they were soo entangled & bewrapte therin. Ibid. (Arb.) 193 In them [the sandes] many shyppes are entangled. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Warres 213 One of the greatest Ships..entangled with another Ships Cables. 1710J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 115 All these Particles of Matter must be broken where-ever they are..intangled with those that join to them. 1711Addison Spect. No. 42 ⁋1 Lest she should entangle her Feet in her Petticoat. 1722Sewel Hist. Quakers (1759) I. iii. 205 Being entangled in the ropes in leaping down. 1726Thomson Winter 926 Entangled in the gathering ice. 1777Watson Philip II (1839) 203 If any of them should..be entangled in the mud. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. II. 236 A vessell entangled in the whirlpools. 1835–6Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 229/1 Agaric and sponge entangled the blood and retained a coagulum on the spot.
β1533Frith Answ. More Wks. (1573) 148/2 For anone ye shall see hym so intangled in briers, that he shall not witte where to become. 1570Levins Manip. 128 Intangil, illaqueare. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farme 317 Sheepe..loosing some of their lockes of Wooll vpon the hedges..poore Bees now and then become intangled therein.
b. esp. To catch or hold fast in a snare or net; to ensnare. Also fig.
α1568Grafton Chron. II. 741 The Devill is wont with such witchcrafts, to wrap and entangle the myndes of men. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. 23 He will find himself entangled in words, as a bird in lime twigs. 1711Steele Spect. No. 139 ⁋1 The Snares in which France has entangled all her Neighbours. 1773Burke Sp. Relief Prot. Dissenters Wks. X. 33 Nets that entangle the poor fluttering silken wings of a tender conscience. 1841D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 592 Entangled in the meshes of political parties. 1870Bryant Iliad I. ii. 40 Saturnian Jove hath in an evil net Entangled me most cruelly.
β1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 41 b, Intryked or intangled in the affeccyon or loue of worldly goodes and honours. 1576Fleming Panoplie Ep. 287 They intangle themselves in the same webbes of woe. 1611Bible Matt. xxii. 15. 1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus' Mor. xxv, Be not here intangled by The too great Lustre that beguiles your eye.
c. transf. To involve in intricate paths or among obstacles; also fig. with reference to a metaphorical ‘maze’ or ‘labyrinth’.
1611Bible Ex. xiv. 3 They are intangled in the land, the wildernesse hath shut them in. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Irene Wks. 173 That labyrinth wherein they are like to intangle and lose themselves. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 90 Our Madagascar ship was..entangled among rocks and currents. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 58 Entangled in the mazes of metaphysic sophistry. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. x. (1865) 83 You get entangled in another man's mind, even as you lose yourself in another man's grounds. 1850Prescott Peru II. 245 The Spanish commander became entangled in the defiles of the mountains.
†d. intr. To become entangled. Obs. rare.
1628Cowley Piramus & Thisbe iv, A Bird..By struggling more entangles in the Gin. a1673Horton in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xciv. 19 Boughs usually catch, and intangle one in another.
2. fig. To involve in difficulties; to engage (a person) in undertakings, quarrels, etc., from which it is difficult to withdraw; to embarrass, hamper; to involve in mental difficulties, perplex, bewilder. Formerly also absol. † to cause entanglements.
α1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 38 §1 The vsurped power of the Byshoppe of Rome hath always entangled and troubled to the mere iurisdiction and regall power of this realme. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. ii. ix. (Arb.) 132, I fynde my wytte more entangeled in the description hereof. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 48 Yea, very force entangles It selfe with strength. 1683Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 410 The others were entangled still in some Difficulty or other. 1798Nelson 25 Oct. in Nicclas Disp. (1845) III. 159 You will..not entangle yourself by undertaking to embark the troops for France. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike viii. 87 Getting entangled in a complimentary speech. 1858Froude Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 52 The Pope..had endeavoured to entangle his nephew in the conspiracy. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. I. xviii. 462 He was long entangled in Electrochemistry.
β1563–87Foxe A. & M. III. 357 He might intangle himself, but should do his Brother no good. 1597Daniel Civ. Wares i. lxxi, Intestine strife, of force, The apt-divided State intangle would. 1699Burnet 39 Art. i. (1700) 20 This is rather a flight of Metaphisicks that intangles one, than a plain and full conviction. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 22 ⁋5 Intangled in consequences which she could not foresee.
†b. To bind by embarrassing engagements to another person. Obs.
1620Horæ Subsec. 106 A Prodigall..is so entangled to other men, that hee is neuer master of himselfe. 1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 331 Not being intangled to wife and children, etc.
c. To involve (a person) in compromising relations with another. Cf. 3.
1888F. Hume Mad. Midas i. i, He became entangled with a lady whose looks were much better than her morals. 1888A. K. Green Behind Closed Doors iii, She could never have become entangled with him.
†d. To encumber (land, an estate). Obs.
1601–2W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 63 The partie morgaging, incumbring, entangling, or aliening the land. 1616Sir R. Dudley in Fortesc. Papers 16 My Estate in England is entangled, partly by a suite in the Chauncery.
II.
3. To make tangled; to twist, interlace, or mix up in such a manner that a separation cannot easily be made.
1555Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iii. (Arb.) 77 The sea was euery where entangeled with Ilandes. Ibid. 196 The formes of their letters are muche more crooked and entangeled. 1601Holland Pliny I. 199 They have not so soone clasped and intangled it [the trunke] with their taile, but they set their venomous teeth in the Elephants eare. 1671Milton Samson 763 Entangl'd with a poisonous bosom snake. 1713Lond. & Country Brew. i. (1742) 50 The spirituous Parts are more entangled, and kept from making their Escape. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. §27. 212 The flakes were composed of these exquisite [snow] blossoms entangled together.
b. fig. To render (a subject, etc.) complicated or intricate; to complicate with.
1672A. Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 104 He had intangled the matter of Conscience with the Magistrates Power. 1677Govt. Venice 269 Your Scholars..rather intangle and perplex Councils than clear them. 1695Ld. Preston Boeth. v. 212 The Question..was intangled with many others. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. Mystery, Two other circumstances which entangled this mystery. 1879Froude Cæsar xxviii. 481 The story is entangled with legends. |