fankle

From Scots fankle, (compare English fangle), equivalent to fank (“coil, noose, vang”) +‎ -le (frequentative suffix). Doublet of fangle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfæŋkəl/

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• Rhymes: -æŋkəl

fankle (third-person singular simple present fankles, present participle fankling, simple past and past participle fankled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To tangle or entangle.

fankle (plural fankles)

1. A tangled condition.
   • 1954, The Nautical Magazine, volumes 171-172, page 31:

     But sometimes they didn't go the way they should - and jammed, and each one behind it started to jam too, and I had to work like a madman to catch up, before the anchor-chain fouled into a fankle […]

fankle (plural fankles)

1. A tangle of rope, string, wool etc