Tan·gle v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tangled p. pr. & vb. n. Tangling ]
  1. To unite or knit together confusedly; to interweave or interlock, as threads, so as to make it difficult to unravel the knot; to entangle; to ravel.
  2. To involve; to insnare; to entrap; as, to be tangled in lies. “Tangled in amorous nets.”
  When my simple weakness strays,
  Tangled in forbidden ways.   --Crashaw.
  tangled
       adj 1: in a confused mass; "pushed back her tangled hair"; "the
              tangled ropes" [ant: untangled]
       2: highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure";
          "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning";
          "intricate needlework"; "an intricate labyrinth of refined
          phraseology"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty
          problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"; "Oh,
          what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott; "tortuous
          legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting for
          months" [syn: Byzantine, convoluted, intricate, involved,
           knotty, labyrinthine, tortuous]