Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TAN'GLE, v.t. [This word, if n is casual, seems to be allied to the W. tagu, to choke, Goth. taga, hair; from crowding together. In Ar. دَجَا dagaa, signifies to involve.]

1. To implicate; to unite or knit together confusedly; to interweave or interlock, as threads, so as to make it difficult to ravel the knot.
2. To insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in the folds of dire necessity. Milton. Tangled in amorous nets. Milton.
3. To embroil; to embarrass. When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways. Crashaw. [Entangle, the compound, is the more elegant word.]