Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A rigid bracelet or anklet, especially one with no clasp.
  • noun An ornament that hangs from a bracelet or necklace.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To beat about or down, as corn by the wind.
  • To waste by little and little; squander carelessly; fritter.
  • In falconry, to beat about in the air; flutter: said of a hawk which does not rise steadily and then swoop down upon its prey.
  • To flap or hang down loosely, as a hat-brim or an animal's ear.
  • noun An ornamental ring worn upon the arms and ankles in India and Africa. Hence A bracelet without a clasp; a ring-bracelet, generally with small ornaments suspended from it.
  • noun Nautical, a hoop of a spar.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To waste by little and little; to fritter away.
  • noun An ornamental circlet, of glass, gold, silver, or other material, worn mostly by women, upon the wrist or ankle; a ring bracelet. It differs from other bracelets in being rigid and not articulated, in contrast to bracelets made of links.
  • noun a loose hanging ear of a horse, like that of a spaniel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A rigid bracelet or anklet, especially one with no clasp.
  • verb obsolete To waste, fritter (away).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun jewelry worn around the wrist for decoration
  • noun cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hindi baṅgrī, glass bracelet.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bangle.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "To flap or hang down loosely, as a hat-brim or an animal's ear."

    - The Century Dictionary

    August 6, 2010