Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - tangle up

1. If a person or thing is tangled up in something such as wire or ropes, they are caught or trapped in it. Sheep kept getting tangled up in it and eventually the wire was removed... The teeth are like razors. Once you get tangled up it will never let you go. PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, get/be V-ed P in n, get/be V-ed P 2. If you are tangled up in a complicated or unpleasant situation, you are involved in it and cannot get free of it. Politicians normally avoid getting tangled up in anything to do with their electorate’s savings. PHRASAL VERB: usu passive, get/be V-ed P in/with n • tangled up For many days now Buddy and Joe had appeared to be more and more tangled up in secrets. ADJ: v-link ADJ