Ravel

Definition of Ravel

Rav´el Pronunciation: răv´'l

v. t.	1.	To separate or undo the texture of; to unravel; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; - often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a stocking. [imp. & p. p. Raveled (-'ld) or Ravelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Raveling or Ravelling.] 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 the knot 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.
v. i.	1.	To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.
	2.	To fall into perplexity and confusion. 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. The humor of raveling into all these mystical or entangled matters. - Sir W. Temple.

Related Words

Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption, answer, ball up, bottom, can of worms, clarify, clear up, complex, complicate, confound, confuse, crack, debug, decipher, decode, disembroil, disentangle, disintricate, disinvolve, divine, do, dope, dope out, embrangle, entangle, explain, fathom, figure out, find out, find the answer, find the solution, foul up, get, get right, guess, guess right, have it, hit it, implicate, interpret, involve, jungle, knot, labyrinth, louse up, make out, maze, meander, mesh, mess, mess up, mix up, muck, muck up, muddle, open the lock, perplex, plumb, psych, psych out, puzzle out, ramify, ravel out, resolve, riddle, screw up, snafu, snake pit, snarl, snarl up, solve, sort out, tangle, tangled skein, unbraid, unclutter, uncoil, undo, unknot, unlock, unmix, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, unsnarl, untangle, unthread, untwine, untwist, unweave, unwind, webwork, wheels within wheels, wilderness, work, work out

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