mangle
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmæŋ.ɡəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æŋɡəl
Etymology 1
From Middle English mangelen, from Anglo-Norman mangler, mahangler, frequentative of either Old French mangonner (“to cut to pieces”) or mahaigner (“to mutilate”), of Germanic origin, for which see mayhem.
Alternate etymology derives mangle from Middle English *mankelen, a frequentative form of manken (“to mutilate”), from Old English mancian, bemancian (“to maim”). More at mank.
Verb
mangle (third-person singular simple present mangles, present participle mangling, simple past and past participle mangled)
- (transitive) To change, mutilate or disfigure by cutting, tearing, rearranging etc.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
- mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail
- (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift
- when they are disposed to mangle a play or novel
- (Can we date this quote?) John Milton
- (transitive, computing) To modify (an identifier from source code) so as to produce a unique identifier for internal use by the compiler, etc.
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle Dutch mangel, from late Middle High German mangel, enhanced form of mange, originally “mangonel”, from Medieval Latin manga, manganum. Doublet of mangonel. Cognate with German Mangel, Dutch mangel, both “mangle”.
Noun
mangle (plural mangles)

- A hand-operated device with rollers, for wringing laundry.
- The mangle attached to wringer washing machines, often called the wringer.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts
- There was a bright-red plastic baby-bath, a car tyre, a rusty mangle, and something that looked like a primitive version of a washing machine.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
mangle (third-person singular simple present mangles, present participle mangling, simple past and past participle mangled)
Translations
Etymology 3
You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.
Catalan
Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /manɡlə/, [ˈmɑŋlə]
German
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
mangle (imperative mangl or mangle, present tense mangler, simple past and past participle mangla or manglet, present participle manglende)
- to lack (something)