Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To quarrel noisily or angrily. synonym: argue.
- intransitive verb To grasp and maneuver something.
- intransitive verb To attempt to deal with or understand something; contend or struggle.
- intransitive verb To win or obtain by argument.
- intransitive verb To manage or herd (horses or cattle).
- intransitive verb To manage or control (something, especially an animal), as on a movie set.
- intransitive verb To grasp and maneuver (something); wrestle.
- noun The act of wrangling.
- noun An angry, noisy argument or dispute.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To dispute; argue noisily or in a quarrelsome manner; brawl; altercate.
- To engage in discussion and disputation; argue, debate; hence, formerly, in some universities, to dispute publicly; defend or oppose a thesis by argument.
- Synonyms To bicker, spar, jangle. See
quarrel , n. - To contest or dispute, especially in the usually brawling manner of the schools.
- noun An angry dispute; a noisy quarrel.
- noun Synonyms Squabble, Altercation, etc. (see
quarrel ), controversy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To argue; to debate; to dispute.
- intransitive verb To dispute angrily; to quarrel peevishly and noisily; to brawl; to altercate.
- transitive verb rare To involve in a quarrel or dispute; to embroil.
- noun An angry dispute; a noisy quarrel; a squabble; an altercation.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive to
bicker , orquarrel angrily andnoisily - verb transitive to
herd horses or otherlivestock - noun An act of
wrangling - noun An
angry dispute
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively
- verb herd and care for
- noun an instance of intense argument (as in bargaining)
- noun an angry dispute
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Today, I went to the Hartford pet expo to help my mom and thecoughlin wrangle briards.
titties and beer. titties and beer. titties and beer. thecoughlin 2009
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Besides, 'you see it on Animal Planet,' said Kemp, who watched the late Steve Irwin wrangle such beasts on the 'Crocodile Hunter.'
Archive 2007-06-24 Bill Crider 2007
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But, as pointed out in a recent Maclean's article, Canada's constitutional wrangle is just as bad as it sounds.
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A hearing is scheduled for April 25 and this arcane legal wrangle, which is still unresolved, may have the perverse effect of delaying the execution.
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The wrangle was a long one, but the argument of the fist eventually brought it to a close, and Maggie was obliged again to shut herself into her room.
Spring Days 1892
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A wrangle is the disinclination to each other of two boarders that meet together, but are not on the same floor.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8 Elbert Hubbard 1885
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Once again, it's time for us to round up - nay, 'wrangle' - the funniest picture captions that our dear Twitter followers came up with this week.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Andrea Mann 2012
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The wrangle is the latest issue over which Unitech and Telenor have been at odds.
unknown title 2012
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This reminds me of your well- and frequently-voiced concern that the Hillary campaign would be able to "wrangle" the bloggers to their own advantage.
A frightening mix of bodily fluids. Ann Althouse 2007
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Baldilocks has never tried to "wrangle" me, unless posts like this are supposed to relate to me.
Free Exercise 2005
yarb commented on the word wrangle
Now herons call
And wrangle by their pool; and hooting owls
Sail from the wood above pale stooks of oats.
- Siegfried Sassoon, Falling Asleep
March 18, 2008