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ravel - 7 dictionary results
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rav⋅el

  [rav-uhl] verb, -eled, -el⋅ing or (especially British) -elled, -el⋅ling, noun
Use ravel in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to disentangle or unravel the threads or fibers of (a woven or knitted fabric, rope, etc.).
2. to tangle or entangle.
3. to involve; confuse; perplex.
4. to make clear; unravel (often fol. by out).
–verb (used without object)
5. to become disjoined thread by thread or fiber by fiber; fray.
6. to become tangled.
7. to become confused or perplexed.
8. (of a road surface) to lose aggregate.
–noun
9. a tangle or complication.
Origin:
1575–85; < D rafelen

Related forms:
rav⋅el⋅er; especially British, rav⋅el⋅ler, noun
rav⋅el⋅ly, adjective

Ra⋅vel

  [ruh-vel; Fr. ra-vel]
–noun
Mau⋅rice Jo⋅seph  [moh-rees zhaw-zef] , 1875–1937, French composer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ravel
rav·el   (rāv'əl)   
v.   rav·eled also rav·elled, rav·el·ing also rav·el·ling, rav·els also rav·els

v.   tr.
  1. To separate the fibers or threads of (cloth, for example); unravel.
  2. To clarify by separating the aspects of.
  3. To tangle or complicate.
v.   intr.
  1. To become separated into its component threads; unravel or fray.
  2. To become tangled or confused.
n.  
  1. A raveling.
  2. A broken or discarded thread.
  3. A tangle.

[Obsolete Dutch ravelen, from ravel, loose thread.]
rav'el·er, rav'el·ler n.
Ra·vel   (rə-věl', rä-)   
French composer of impressionistic operas, ballets, orchestral works, such as Boléro (1928), and piano works, including Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Ravel

Rav"el\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Raveledor Ravelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Raveling or Ravelling.] [. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln, reffeln.]

1. To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a sticking.

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 he not 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.

Ravel

Rav"el\, v. i. 1. To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be relieved of intricacy.

2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.]

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. [Obs.]

The humor of raveling into all these mystical or entangled matters. --Sir W. Temple.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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ravel 
1582, "to untangle, unwind," also "to become tangled or confused" (1585), from Du. ravelen "to tangle, fray, unweave," from rafel "frayed thread." The seemingly contradictory senses of this word (ravel and unravel are both synonyms and antonyms) are reconciled by its roots in weaving and sewing: as threads become unwoven, they get tangled.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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