mangling

verb

present participle of mangle
as in fumbling
to make or do (something) in a clumsy or unskillful way you've mangled this so badly that we'll have to do it over

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mangling The bit caught a pipe strap and wrenched him off a ladder, tearing off his thumb and mangling his hand. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026 The man in black is wracked and choking, mangling the words, eyes dripping. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Complex documents with tables, charts and mixed content need each content type scored separately, since a model can nail text while mangling a table. — Sriram Bhargav Madhav, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026 Blade grinders function more like blenders, frantically whirring in circles, mangling the beans, and tossing them all over the grinding chamber. — Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 May 2026 Where was Michael Hill, the commissioner’s office executive serving as Team USA’s general manager, while his manager was mangling the stakes of the situation? — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026 Bruce, my sincere apology for 40 years of mangling your songs in the car. — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 11 Dec. 2025 When Jets safety Malachi Moore went to tackle Hill, the wideout’s leg got caught underneath him, mangling the appendage in the process. — Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mangling
  1. fumbling
  2. blowing
  3. dubbing
  4. butchering
  5. murdering
  6. ruining
Verb
  • After not fumbling all year and not committing a turnover throughout the month of October, Young got strip-sacked in the second quarter and Tampa Bay returned it for a touchdown.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The Seahawks had one of the worst turnovers in the NFL this season, fumbling in their own end zone and handing the 49ers a touchdown with 13 seconds left in the first half.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of fumbling
Verb
  • Officials had budgeted $100,000 for the program and wound up blowing through that in just a few hours.
    — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • While animal rights advocates have pushed for Congress to adopt legislation that would phase out the fur industry, buying out farmers over the course of a year to end the practice once and for all, winds in Congress are blowing the other direction.
    — Nat Lash, ProPublica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of blowing
Verb
  • To get those shows to viewers abroad, Netflix now relies on 122 localization partners globally, 119 of them dubbing studios.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Even British Vogue has highlighted its revival, dubbing it the ’00s messy-prep revival piece.
    — Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of dubbing
Verb
  • During that collection and delivery, one or two animals are donated for harvest, or butchering, to Native American communities.
    — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The butchering thing was a major complaint because the Commandos were expected to live off the land after their first day's rations ran out.
    — David Szondy August 30, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of butchering
Verb
  • On Monday, Mackenzie was convicted of murdering 190 children and one adult alongside 28 leaders of his cult.
    — Latoya Gayle, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to more than 400 deaths was convicted Monday of murdering 190 children and one adult after ordering followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus.
    — Evelyne Musambi, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of murdering
Verb
  • The song is a cautionary tale about a brothel in New Orleans known for ruining many poor girls.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
  • As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of ruining

Browse Nearby Words

mangles
mangling
mangy
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mangling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mangling. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All