WRANGLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wrangle mean? 

• WRANGLE (noun)
  The noun WRANGLE has 2 senses:

1. an angry dispute

2. an instance of intense argument (as in bargaining)

  Familiarity information: WRANGLE used as a noun is rare.

• WRANGLE (verb)
  The verb WRANGLE has 2 senses:

1. to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively

2. herd and care for

  Familiarity information: WRANGLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRANGLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An angry dispute

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

dustup; quarrel; row; run-in; words; wrangle

Context example:

they had words

Hypernyms ("wrangle" is a kind of...):

conflict; difference; difference of opinion; dispute (a disagreement or argument about something important)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wrangle"):

affray; altercation; fracas (noisy quarrel)

bicker; bickering; fuss; pettifoggery; spat; squabble; tiff (a quarrel about petty points)

bust-up (a serious quarrel (especially one that ends a friendship))

Derivation:

wrangle (to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An instance of intense argument (as in bargaining)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

haggle; haggling; wrangle; wrangling

Hypernyms ("wrangle" is a kind of...):

bargaining (the negotiation of the terms of a transaction or agreement)

• WRANGLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wrangle    ... he / she / it wrangles   
Past simple: wrangled   
Past participle: wrangled   
-ing form: wrangling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

brawl; wrangle

Context example:

The bar keeper threw them out, but they continued to wrangle on down the street

Hypernyms (to "wrangle" is one way to...):

altercate; argufy; dispute; quarrel; scrap (have a disagreement over something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

wrangle (an angry dispute)

wrangler (someone who argues noisily or angrily)

wrangling (an instance of intense argument (as in bargaining))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Herd and care for

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

wrangle horses

Hypernyms (to "wrangle" is one way to...):

herd (keep, move, or drive animals)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

wrangler (a cowboy who takes care of the saddle horses)

 Context examples 

Wrangling these two planets into the perfect position is naturally hard to do, but that’s what you have this year.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Charles and Hal wrangled whenever Mercedes gave them a chance.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

To avoid their wrangling I moved some little way apart, and was seated smoking upon the trunk of a fallen tree, when Lord John strolled over in my direction.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A historic deal has been reached to create the world's largest marine reserve in Antarctica, after years of diplomatic wrangling.

(Deal Reached to Create World's Largest Marine Reserve in Antarctica, VOA News)

In loud voices they shouted over the day’s fighting, wrangled about details, or waxed affectionate and made friends with the men whom they had fought.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

To their ears came the sounds of dogs wrangling and scuffling, the guttural cries of men, the sharper voices of scolding women, and once the shrill and plaintive cry of a child.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Ruth sat near him in the stern, while the three young fellows lounged amidships, deep in a wordy wrangle over "frat" affairs.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They appreciated or sneered at the morning editorials, jumped from labor conditions in New Zealand to Henry James and Brander Matthews, passed on to the German designs in the Far East and the economic aspect of the Yellow Peril, wrangled over the German elections and Bebel's last speech, and settled down to local politics, the latest plans and scandals in the union labor party administration, and the wires that were pulled to bring about the Coast Seamen's strike.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)