RAVEL

run, ladder, ravel

(noun) a row of unravelled stitches; “she got a run in her stocking”

Ravel, Maurice Ravel

(noun) French composer and exponent of Impressionism (1875-1937)

ravel, tangle, knot

(verb) tangle or complicate; “a ravelled story”

ravel, unravel, ravel out

(verb) disentangle; “can you unravel the mystery?”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

ravel (plural ravels)

A snarl; a complication.

A ravelled thread.

Verb

ravel (third-person singular simple present ravels, present participle (US) raveling or ravelling, simple past and past participle (US) raveled or ravelled)

(transitive) To tangle; entangle; entwine confusedly, become snarled; thus to involve; perplex; confuse.

(transitive, figurative) To undo the intricacies of; to disentangle or clarify.

(transitive) To pull apart (especially cloth or a seam); unravel.

(intransitive) To become entangled.

(intransitive) To become untwisted or unwoven.

(computing, programming) In the APL programming language, to reshape (a variable) into a vector.

Usage notes

• The spellings ravelling and ravelled are more common in the UK than in the US.

Anagrams

• arvel, larve, laver, reval, velar

Source: Wiktionary


Rav"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raveled or Ravelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Raveling or Ravelling.] Etym: [. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln, reffeln.]

1. To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a sticking. Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care. Shak.

2. To undo the intricacies of; to disentangle.

3. To pull apart, as the threads of a texture, and let them fall into a tangled mass; hence, to entangle; to make intricate; to involve. What glory's due to him that could divide Such raveled interests has he not untied Waller. The faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or raveled and entangled in weak discourses! Jer. Taylor.

Rav"el, v. i.

1. To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.

2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.] Till, by their own perplexities involved, They ravel more, still less resolved. Milton.

3. To make investigation or search, as by picking out the threads of a woven pattern. [Obs.] The humor of raveling into all these mystical or entangled matters. Sir W. Temple.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

30 November 2023

RESUSCITATOR

(noun) a breathing apparatus used for resuscitation by forcing oxygen into the lungs of a person who has undergone asphyxia or arrest of respiration


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

coffee icon