Definition of "ravel" in English

verb

1. To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.

2. Often followed by up: to form (something) out of discrete elements, like weaving fabric from threads; to knit.

3. 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.

4. To confuse or perplex (someone or something).

5. Often followed by out: to undo the intricacies of (a problem, etc.); to clarify, to disentangle.

6. To destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.

7. In the APL programming language: to reshape (a variable) into a vector.

8. 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.

9. Often followed by out: of clothing, fabric, etc.: to become unwoven; to fray, to unravel.

10. To become entangled or snarled.

noun

1. A tangled mess; an entanglement, a snarl, a tangle.

2. A confusing, intricate, or perplexing situation; a complication.

3. (also figuratively) A thread which has unravelled from fabric, etc.; also, a situation of fabric, etc., coming apart; an unravelling.