小词详解 | entangle

entangle 英 [ɪnˈtæŋɡl] 美 [ɪnˈtæŋɡl]

TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

• Espionage and business have long been entangled.
  间谍活动与商务向来纠缠不清。
  ——《经济学人》
• Photos showed the plane entangled in power lines.
  照片显示飞机被输电线缠住了。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] cause to become twisted together with or caught in
[动词] 使被扭在一起或被缠住

深入解读

Entangle 一词由前缀 en- （置于……中）+名词 tangle （缠结）构成，15世纪初出现在英语中后即用来表示“缠住、套住、使纠缠”，一般搭配 entangle sb/sth in/with sth 并通常使用被动语态，多指使某人或某物被网、绳、圈套等缠住或者扭在一起，强调不易分离或者无法逃脱，比如：

• 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
  The bird had become entangled in the wire netting.

从这个概念出发， entangle 很自然地被用来引申指“使卷入、使陷入”或“牵连、连累”，一般搭配 entangle sb in sth 或 entangle sb with sb 并通常使用被动语态，主要指使某人陷入困难或复杂的境地中，像被网、绳缠住了那般难以摆脱，或者说使问题、困难等更加错综复杂难解，比如：

• 她不想与他有情感瓜葛。
  She didn't want to get romantically entangled with him.
• 他站不住脚的解释只是使问题更复杂化了。
  His invalid explanation only served to entangle the question further.

名著用例

It was a great struggle to keep up with Hagrid, what with branches and thickets of thorn through which Hagrid marched as easily as though they were cobwebs, but which snagged Harry and Hermione's robes, frequently entangling them so severely that they had to stop for minutes at a time to free themselves.
跟上海格非常费力，海格穿过那些树枝和灌木丛时，轻松得就像在穿过蜘蛛网，但是它们却拦住了哈利和赫敏的长袍，老是把他们缠得紧紧的，他们只得停下来几分钟，好让自己解脱出来。

出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第五本《哈利·波特与凤凰社》（Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix）。

同近义词

• entwine: wind or twist together; interweave
• tangle: twist together into a confused mass
• enmesh: cause to become entangled in something

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