a tangled web

tangled web

A convoluted situation usually caused by some form of deception. The investigation revealed a tangled web of fraud among the members of the political party.
See also: tangled, web
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a tangled web

A tangled web is a situation that is very confused and difficult to understand. This is only one of a series of troubling questions that are emerging from the tangled web of evidence connected to the case. It is sometimes difficult to cut through the tangled web of government information in order to work out the benefits you can claim.
See also: tangled, web
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a tangled web

a complex, difficult, and confusing situation or thing.
This phrase comes from Sir Walter Scott 's epic poem Marmion ( 1808 ); ‘O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!’
See also: tangled, web
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • tangled web
  • see daylight
  • work through channels
  • red tape
  • finer
  • chew it finer
  • talk in riddles
  • depend on the kindness of strangers
  • another lie nailed to the counter
  • counter
References in classic literature
Oh, Marilla, `what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.' That is poetry, but it is true.
Claire Everward, "A Tangled Web" is a very highly recommended addition to community library Contemporary General Fiction collections.
Supergirl Sky One, 8pm It becomes clear how the sinister plans of Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer, left) have woven into a tangled web over the past two years - one that could finally be the end of Kara and her team.
Instead she finds a tangled web leading all the way back to the Mayflower and the Salem witch trials.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE never wrote, "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive' and yet so many people are perfectly willing to believe that he did.
When murder unexpectedly strikes a small New England town, hitting a single mother and affecting a teen daughter and her older internet lover, a tangled web of psychological drama ensues in this powerful investigative mystery, narrated by J.
Bid for Qantas a tangled web of political, financial interests.
So the timing couldn't be better for this exemplary documentary that lays bare a tangled web of corruption and corporate greed.
But the job is not as easy as Top has anticipated and he finds himself caught in a tangled web that consist of several determined Civil War Memorabilia collectors, the KKK, redneck bikers, ATF agents, and a right-wing religious organization.
Scheduled for completion by the end of 2007, the newly designed transportation complex addresses long standing obstacles to better Downtown access by harmonizing a tangled web of nine subway lines connecting Lower Manhattan and the rest of New York City.
Persisting against monumental antipathy, they would pass bits and pieces of their inheritance from daughter to daughter...." The author presents each generation's "sister" with finesse, drawing us increasingly deeper into a tangled web of histories and stories that mirror our own.
Each film teases out a tangled web of allusions (not least to Arachne, the most skilled and unfortunate fabric artist of Greek mythology, transformed into a spider for having dared to outweave Athena), as in The Kiss (let's play Dynasty!), 2000.
In Marmion, Sir Walter Scott describes with memorable succinctness the unanticipated pitfalls of trying to manipulate others: "O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
Ironically, given the IT battle cry of more efficiency and productivity, many companies find they're home to a tangled web of legacy systems, minimally compatible platforms and redundant applications.
As evidenced by this and so many other stories this year, one can't help but think what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to artificially conceive.