| Sammansatta former: |
| bollix sth vtr | vulgar, informal (bungle) | trassla till vtr partikel oskj |
| | (vardagligt: förstöra) | sabba⇒ vtr |
| catch vi | (become entangled) | fastna vitr |
| | (vardaglig) | sno in sig, trassla in sig vbal uttr |
| | As I was riding my bicycle, my shoelaces caught on the gears. |
| | När jag cyklade, så fastande mina skosnören i växlarna. |
| catch sth in sth vtr | usu passive (entangle) | fånga⇒ vtr |
| | | trassla in vtr partikel skj |
| | The fly was caught in the spider's web. |
| complicate sth for sb vtr + prep | (make sth difficult for sb) | försvåra ngt för ngn vtr + prep |
| | (vardagligt) | trassla till ngt för ngn vbal uttr |
| | | göra ngt svårare för ngn vbal uttr |
| | The snow is going to complicate deliveries for the milkman. |
| | His long explanation only served to complicate the question for us. |
| entangle sth in sth vtr + prep | often passive (tangle up: in strings, etc.) | trassla in ngt i ngt vbal uttr |
| | The kitten was entangled in a mass of yarn. |
| mess up vi phrasal | figurative, slang (make serious mistake) (vardagligt) | klanta till det vbal uttr |
| | | ställa till det vbal uttr |
| | | trassla till det vbal uttr |
| | This is your last chance, so don't mess up! |
| muddle sth vtr | (objects: mix up, jumble) | röra till, trassla till, stöka till vtr partikel oskj |
| | | skapa oreda vtr + s |
| | Someone's muddled the records so I can't make sense of them. |
| muddle sth with sth vtr | figurative (ideas: confuse, mix up) | röra till, trassla till, stöka till vtr partikel oskj |
| | You've muddled your evidence: no-one can follow you any more. |
| muddy sth vtr | figurative (make less clear: ideas, results) | förvirra⇒ vtr |
| | (vardagligt,) | trassla till ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | | göra ngt oklart, göra ngt otydligt vtr + adv |
| | The debater tried to muddy the argument with a lot of pointless information. |
| ravel sth vtr | (entangle) | trassla till vtr partikel oskj |
| | | trassla ihop vtr partikel oskj |
| | The playful cat raveled the yarn. |
| ravel sth vtr | (unravel, disentangle) | trassla upp ngt, lösa upp ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | Karen raveled the yarn and wound it into a skein. |
| ravel vi | (become entangled) | trassla in sig vbal uttr |
| | | trasslas ihop vitr partikel |
| ravel sth out vtr + adv | (untangle) | trassla upp, trassla ut vtr partikel oskj |
rip sth out,
rip out sth vtr + adv | (knitting, stitching: unravel) | nysta upp ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | | trassla ut ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | I made several mistakes in my knitting and ended up ripping out three rows of stitches. |
SNAFU sth,
snafu sth vtr | US, acronym, slang (make chaotic) | skapa kaos vtr + s |
| | (idiomatisk) | röra om i grytan vbal uttr |
| | | trassla till ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| snarl up vi phrasal | (get tangled) | trassla till sig vbal uttr |
| | | trassla in sig vbal uttr |
| | The cables snarled up in the wind. |
| snarl sth up vtr phrasal sep | (make tangled) | trassla till ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | | tova till ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | I snarled up my headphones when I took them out of my backpack. |
| tangle vi | (wires, cables) (vardagligt) | trassla sig vitr partikel |
| | (vardagligt) | trassla ihop sig vbal uttr |
| | The wires had tangled and Mark had to spend ages sorting them out. |
| tangle sth/sb in sth vtr + prep | often passive (trap, ensnare) (bildlig) | trassla in ngt/ngn i ngt vbal uttr |
| | Freya is always tangling me in her schemes and I'm the one who gets in trouble! |
tangle sth up,
tangle up sth vtr phrasal sep | (make knotted or intertwined) | trassla ihop ngt, trassla in ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | | slå knutar på ngt vbal uttr |
| | I tangled up the wool to annoy my mother. |
| unravel vi | (string, yarn, sweater) | repa upp sig vbal uttr |
| | | trassla upp sig vbal uttr |
| | | reda ut sig vbal uttr |
| | I only bought this jumper last week and it's already unravelling. |
| unravel sth vtr | (knitted garment) | reda ut ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | | repa upp ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | (vardagligt) | trassla upp ngt vtr partikel oskj |
| | Marilyn decided she didn't like the cardigan, so she unravelled it and started again. |
| unsnarl sth vtr | (untangle) | trassla ut vtr partikel oskj |
| | | reda ut vtr partikel oskj |
| wind sth vtr | (entwine) | slingra sig samman vbal uttr |
| | (vardagligt) | trassla ihop sig vbal uttr |
| | He wound the cable tightly and put it in the drawer. |