entangle

entangle (someone or something) in (something)

1. Literally, to tangle or ensnare someone or something in something. You have so many knots that I can't help but entangle the brush in your hair.
2. To involve or trap oneself or someone in something, such as an issue, problem, or scandal. A noun or pronoun can be used between "entangled" and "in." The other candidates entangled the politicians in petty debates, and he was never able to make his point. Our father's lack of a will has entangled my brothers and me in many lawsuits over his estate.
See also: entangle

entangle (someone or something) with (something)

Literally, to tangle or ensnare someone or something with something. The kids keep circling me and entangling me with the jump rope.
See also: entangle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

entangle someone or something in something

 
1. . and entangle an animal in something Lit. to catch or tangle up someone, a group, or an animal in something. Careful! Don't entangle your foot in the anchor chain. Somehow I entangled the dog in the fishing net.
2. Fig. to get someone or a group involved in something. She was trying to entangle us in her latest cause. They entangled us in their lawsuit.
See also: entangle

entangle someone or something with something

to get someone or something tangled up with something. He sought to entangle the pursuing mugger with a mass of ropes and boards. Sam entangled the rabid dog with a net and got away. He entangled himself with the ropes on the deck.
See also: entangle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • (someone or something) promises well
  • a whack at (something)
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • (have) got something going (with someone)
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • accompanied by
  • accompanied by (someone or something)
  • accompany
  • a crack at (someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
Our first and fundamental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe; our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic affairs.
Minding our own business: American foreign policy has moved away from the prudent non-interventionism of the founders to the present policy of global police action and empire building. (Isolationism)
All kinds of garbage, ranging from fishing nets to trash from cargo ships to litter on the beach, finds its way into coastal waters and the ocean, where it traps, ensnares and entangles marine wildlife such as marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds.
A sea of troubles: in the International Year of the Ocean, are we reaching the limits?
* So far, photons are the only elementary particles that have been entangled, but Lucas Lamata of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, and his colleagues have devised a way to entangle electrons, which would be more stable.
Everyday entanglement: physicists take quantum weirdness out of the lab
In the new study, researchers used a microwave pulse to attempt to entangle the electrical currents of the two superconductors.
Entanglement in the macroworld: 'spooky action at a distance' observed in superconductors
Topics include fundamental quantum phenomena and concepts, entanglement and its consequences, the Bohr-Einstein debate and the fundamental problem of quantum mechanics, the quantum world, entangles quantum systems from wave-particle duality to single-photon sources of light, quantum information, the promise of quantum computers, decoherence and the transition from quantum physics to classical physics, quantum information processing, and quantum theory as a challenge for philosophy.
Entangled World: The Fascination of Quantum Information and Computation
We ride with Paris and Fearless through a fast paced mystery that entangles the African American and Jewish community.
Fearless Jones
A grisly trail of seemingly unrelated murders entangles the two, and their hunt for the killer eventually leads them to a cliffside village and a breathtaking, cataclysmic struggle with a terrible nemesis from Doyle's past.
The Dark Water
Dover Area School District, argues that teaching religious concepts in public school science courses entangles government with religion, violating the First Amendment.
'Intelligent design' challenged in Pa. public school
But as DeMent pointed out, requiring school officials to make certain that students' prayers fall within certain parameters only further entangles government in religious affairs.
An answer to prayer: court strikes down Alabama prayer law
Theory suggests that squeezing entangles the light's photons.
Quantum entanglement in a crowd: connections between photon pairs in beam of light measured