betangle

English

Etymology

From be- (“around, about”) +‎ tangle.

Verb

betangle (third-person singular simple present betangles, present participle betangling, simple past and past participle betangled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To tangle around or about, entwine, encumber.
   • 1851, John Poole, Hablot Knight Browne, The Comic Miscellany, page 222:

     But it is plain to all of us, that that woman is betangling you more and more every day; she has got you in her tiles; she's a-weaning you one by one from all your good old friends, and won't allow you even a single hour to spend amongst us.

   • 1985, The Economist, volume 296, page 34:

     It thought it had so finessed the problem of New Caledonia that the independence conflict there would not betangle next year's parliamentary election in France.