mangle
verb /ˈmæŋɡl/
/ˈmæŋɡl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they mangle | /ˈmæŋɡl/ /ˈmæŋɡl/ |
| he / she / it mangles | /ˈmæŋɡlz/ /ˈmæŋɡlz/ |
| past simple mangled | /ˈmæŋɡld/ /ˈmæŋɡld/ |
| past participle mangled | /ˈmæŋɡld/ /ˈmæŋɡld/ |
| -ing form mangling | /ˈmæŋɡlɪŋ/ /ˈmæŋɡlɪŋ/ |
- [usually passive] to tear or twist something so that it is badly damaged
- be mangled His hand was mangled in the machine.
- mangle something to change something good into something bad, for example a language or a piece of music, by saying it wrongly or playing it badly synonym ruin
- I find it strange the way he mangles the English language.
Word Originverb late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French mahangler, perhaps a frequentative of mahaignier ‘maim’.