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man·gle 1 (mănggəl)
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tr.v. man·gled, man·gling, man·gles
1. To mutilate or disfigure by battering, hacking, cutting, or tearing: fishing nets that mangle fish.
2. To ruin or spoil through ineptitude or ignorance: mangle a speech.

[Middle English manglen, from Anglo-Norman mangler, frequentative of Old French mangoner, to cut to bits; possibly akin to mahaignier, to maim; see MAYHEM.]

mangler n.

Synonyms: mangle, maim1, maul, mutilate
These verbs mean to cause severe injury or damage: machinery that mangled the worker's fingers; a construction worker maimed in an accident; a hiker mauled by a hungry bear; soldiers mutilated by shrapnel.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
man·gle 2 (mănggəl)
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n.
1. A machine for pressing fabrics by means of heated rollers.
2. Chiefly British A clothes wringer.
tr.v. man·gled, man·gling, man·gles
To press with a mangle.

[Dutch mangel, from German, from Middle High German, diminutive of mange, mangonel, from Late Latin manganum, catapult; see MANGONEL.]
(click for a larger image)
mangle2

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.