ravel
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ravel¹
- /ˈɹævəl/ US, UK
- [ˈɹævl̩] US, UK
Rhymes with -ævəl
Where it comes from
The verb is borrowed from Dutch ravelen, rafelen (“to tangle, become entangled; to fray; to unweave”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. It has been suggested that the verb is originally derived from the noun, but the Oxford English Dictionary regards this as “very uncertain”, and instead regards the noun as having derived from the verb (compare Dutch rafel, raffel (“frayed thread”)).
Ravel is a contranym having both the senses of tangling (verb senses 1.1, 1.2, 1.4.1, and 2.3; noun sense 1) and untangling (verb senses 1.3, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 2.1, and 2.2; noun sense 2). It would appear that the tangling senses predate the untangling ones (as in Dutch), but this is uncertain because the first published uses of both senses of the words occur around the same time.
verb ravels · raveling · ravelling · raveled · ravelled
-
To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.
For the faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or ravelled and entangled in weak discourses, or so false and fallacious by its mixture of interest, that though men usually put most confidences in the pretences of faith, yet no pretences are mo
Similar: mat, snarl, enmesh, ensnare, ensnarl, entangle, foul, implicate, imply, involve, ravel, tangle · Opposite: disentangle, unravel, untangle, feeze, tease out, unsnarl
- Often followed by up: to form (something) out of discrete elements, like weaving fabric from threads; to knit. [Magazine staffer about his political team:] Pencils at the ready, keen brains agleam behind intelligent horn rims, these experts spread out to ravel the loose ends of White-Housing, web-spinning spiders for [the presidential candidate].
- To unwind (a reel of thread, a skein of yarn, etc.); to pull apart (cloth, a seam, etc.); to fray, to unpick, to unravel; also, to pull out (a string of yarn, a thread, etc.) from a piece of fabric, or a skein or reel. [Y]ou ſhall haue one vvoman knit more in a hovver then any man can Rauell agen in ſeauen and tvventy yeare.
-
To confuse or perplex (someone or something).
Similar: confound, involve, puzzle, addle, baffle, vex, lose, embroil, stick, stump, baffound, bamboozle
-
Often followed by out: to undo the intricacies of (a problem, etc.); to clarify, to disentangle.
Make you to rouell^([sic]) all this matter out / That I eſſentially am not in madneſſe, / But mad in craft, […]
Similar: iron out, unravel, untangle, absolve, decipher, get to the bottom of, meliorate, cure, puzzle out, ravel, reason out, resolve
-
To destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.
[S]helter, ſhelter, if you be ſeene / All's ravell'd out agen: ſtand there private, / And you'le find the very opportunity / To call you forth, and place you at the Table.
Similar: disintegrate, race, unmake, destroy, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, dash
- In the APL programming language: to reshape (a variable) into a vector.
- Often followed by out: of a reel of thread or skein of yarn; or a thread on a reel or a string of yarn in a skein, etc.: to become untwisted or unwound. [G]ive him a broad ſide my brave boyes with your Pikes, branch me his ſkin in Flovvers like a Sattin, and betvveene ever Flovver a mortall cut, your Royalty ſhall ravell, […]
- Often followed by out: of clothing, fabric, etc.: to become unwoven; to fray, to unravel. But the real work of the First Thursday Foundation is remembering, and its biggest gift is knitting back together lives raveled by loss.
- To become entangled or snarled. [A]s you vnwinde her loue from him; / Least it ſhould rauell, and be good to none, / You muſt prouide to bottome it on me: / Which muſt be done, by praiſing me as much / As you, in worth diſpraiſe, ſir Valentine.
noun ravels
-
A tangled mess; an entanglement, a snarl, a tangle.
Mr. Urquhart was in sic a ravel after it that when he gies out the first line o' the hunder and nineteenth psalm for singing, says he, 'And so on to the end.'
Similar: ravelment
- A confusing, intricate, or perplexing situation; a complication.
- A thread which has unravelled from fabric, etc.; also, a situation of fabric, etc., coming apart; an unravelling.
Ravel²
- /ɹəˈvɛl/
Rhymes with -ɛl
Where it comes from
* As a French surname, from Ravel.
* As an English surname, variant of Raffel.
* As a German surname, Americanized from Raffel.
* As an Indian surname, variant of Raval.
proper noun
- A male given name.
- A surname.
Translations
Every language
verb to unwind (a reel of thread, a skein of yarn, etc.); to pull apart (cloth, a seam, etc.); to pull out (a string of yard, a thread, etc.) from a piece of fabric,
| Ελληνικά | εκτυλίσσω ektylísso |
|---|---|
| Русский | распуска́ть raspuskátʹ, распу́тывать raspútyvatʹ |
verb to undo the intricacies of (a problem, etc.) — see also clarify, disentangle
| Ελληνικά | ξεμπερδεύω xemperdévo |
|---|
Talk about this word "ravel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ravel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. ravel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ravel "ravel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ravel.Cite this
@misc{ravel_2026,
title = {ravel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ravel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
