Also 5 snarlyn, 5–7 snarle. [Cf. SNARL sb.1]
In R. Brunne Chron. Wace 4629 (Ropes ryueled, & swerued in lyne) the reading suarled cited from the Petyt MS. should prob. be snarled in sense 2 or 3; the construction is not quite clear.
1. trans. To catch in a snare or noose; to entangle or secure with a cord, rope, etc.; to strangle. Now dial.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. xv. (Bodl. MS.). Þee hunter … knowyþ þat þe beeste is i-snarled and faste yholde. Ibid., lxxix. Sicut orix allaqueatus, as Orix is isnarled.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 461/2. Snaryn, or snarlyn, illaqueo.
a. 1470. H. Parker, Dives & Pauper (W. de W., 1493), IX. vii. G ij b. They [sc. sheep] ben so … snarled amonges brembles and thornes that they may nat go away.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1255/2. He made him priuely to be snarled, and his flesh to be torn.
1565. Cooper, Laqueus, an halter: any thyng that one is snarled or tied with.
1602. Rowlands, Greenes Ghost, E ij b. With his necke snarled in an hempen halter.
1648. J. Beaumont, Psyche, IX. cclxxv. So may all Rebels find their shameless feet Snarled for evermore in their own Net.
1829. Brockett, N. C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Snarl, to insnare; as to snarl hares.
1849–. in dial. glossaries, etc. (Northumb., Durham, Cumb., Leic., etc.).
refl. 1530. Palsgr., 723/2. My grayhounde had almost snarled hym selfe to night in his own leesse.
1580. Blundevil, Horsemanship, IV. 60 b. A Horse … being laid, and the halter slacke about his feete,… he snarleth himselfe, so as he is not able to get vp.
b. fig. To ensnare, entangle, entrap.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 431. Þe kyng … snarlede hem wiþ sotil sophyms.
c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), I. i. (1859), 2. That no pylgrym escape, that he ne shal be snarlyd in my trappe.
1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 192. Wyth þi treccherous sotylte Us to snarlyn þou besyist þe.
1545. Joye, Exp. Dan. viii. S iv. To studye by what engyns mennes myndes might be trapped and snarled.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., Wks. (Grosart), IV. 148. Their wealth, they make no other vse of but to snarle and enwrappe men with.
1641. ‘Smectymnuus,’ Vind. Answ., xiii. 121. Foreseeing how his owne words would snarle him, if he should grant them all Bishops.
refl. a. 1470. H. Parker, Dives & Pauper (W. de W., 1493), IX. vii. G ij b. They snarle themself so in dett & in false richesses.
1551. Cranmer, Answ. Gardiner, 168. You snarle youre selfe into so many and heynouse absurdites.
1597. J. Payne, Royal Exch., 37. Let vs not … snarle and intangle our selves with over moche toyle and care of the world.
c. 1680. Hickeringill, Hist. Whiggism, I. Wks. 1716, I. 37. They lose themselves, and snarl themselves and the Holy Text, so that they never find the right end.
2. To tangle; to twist together confusedly; to make a tangle of. Now chiefly dial. and U.S.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 439/1. Ruffelyn, or snarlyn, innodo.
c. 1440. Partonope, 2300. Hys swerde is broken; the other tweyn [swords] be Snarled in the sheeldes ryght fast.
1570. Levins, Manip., 32/21. To Snarle, contrahere.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. lxvi. 97. It … bringeth forth many tender branches full of knotty ioynts, entangled & snarled, or wrapped one in an other.
1606. S. Gardiner, Bk. Angling, 22. The mudde of this place doth pollute the nette, snarle it, and hurte it.
1682. H. More, Cont. Remark. Stories, 35. The Daughter had her Clothes pull’d off, and her hair snarled and matted together.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Snarl, to twist, entangle, and knot together.
1847. Prescott, Peru (1855), I. 165. The eternal labyrinth of mangrove trees with their complicated roots snarled into formidable coils under the water.
1894. J. Z. Rogers, in Outing, XXIII. 404/1. The head tide had snarled the trawls badly.
absol. 1890. Bynner, Begum’s Dau., xxxvii. 448. The begum made bad work of her embroidery in those days; she snarled and knotted, and cut and ravelled, without advancing an inch on her design.
b. fig. To render complicated or confused.
1653. trans. Przipcovius’ Diss. de Pace (1684), 9. You do not comprehend Doctrines snarled and entangled with so many knots.
1675. J. Smith, Chr. Relig. Appeal, I. 44. I would thus unty these knots with which he snarles this story.
1701. J. Norris, Ess. Theory Ideal World, I. 414. ’Tis the want of this Distinction … that has … so snarl’d and perplex’d this Question.
1901. Jrnl. Sch. Geogr., Nov., 340. His starting point … being different…, everything else must be snarled hopelessly.
3. intr. To become twisted or entangled; to get into, or form, tangles or knots.
1600. Holland, Livy, XXXI. xxxix. 797. Their speares … snarling within the boughes and branches of trees … hindered them verie much.
1613. J. Dennys, Secrets of Angling, I. B ij b. Then twist them finely…. But not too hard or slacke, the meane is sweet, Least slacke they snarle, or hard they proue vnsound.
1681. Chetham, Angler’s Vade-m., xxx. § 5 (1689), 177. Which will cause the wyre to be more tough and not so apt to snarl, or break.
1835. Ure, Philos. Manuf., 226. To cause it to snarl into a knot when left free to turn on itself.
1884. W. S. B. McLaren, Spinning, 155. The yarn tends to ‘snarl’ and curl, and cannot be drawn out straight.
