Mangle
/ˈmæŋɡəl/noun
To crush, distort, or severely damage something; also, a machine used to press or wring cloth.
Did you know?The tool-name sense of *mangle* comes through Middle Dutch *mangel* for a cloth-pressing machine, while the violent verb sense developed from the idea of crushing or handling something badly, not from a hidden occult root.
Etymological Timeline
Middle Dutch
Dutch
mangel
“a cloth-pressing machine”
Late Middle English
English
manglen
“to press with a mangle; later, to injure or disfigure by crushing”
16th Century
English
mangle
“to crush, bruise, or disfigure badly”
Modern English
English
mangle
“to mutilate, ruin, or badly distort; also, a cloth-pressing machine”