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ravel

UK:^*^*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈræv^əl/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈrævəl/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(rav′əl)

Inflections of 'ravel' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

When both "l" and "ll" forms exist, spellings with a double "l" are correct, but rare, in US English, while those with a single "l" are not correct in UK English.

ravels: v 3rd person singular

ravelling: v pres p (Mainly UK)

raveling: v pres p (US)

ravelled: v past (Mainly UK)

raveled: v past (US)

ravelled: v past p (Mainly UK)

raveled: v past p (US)

rav•el /ˈrævəl/USA pronunciation v. [~ + object], -eled, -el•ing or (esp. Brit.) -elled, -el•ling.

to disentangle the threads or fibers of;
unravel.
to make clear;
unravel.
to entangle;
enmesh;
confuse.

rav•el (rav′əl),USA pronunciation v., -eled, -el•ing or ([esp. Brit.]) -elled, -el•ling, n.
v.t.

to disentangle or unravel the threads or fibers of (a woven or knitted fabric, rope, etc.).
to tangle or entangle.
to involve;
confuse;
perplex.
to make clear;
unravel (often fol. by out).

v.i.

to become disjoined thread by thread or fiber by fiber;
fray.
to become tangled.
to become confused or perplexed.
Civil Engineering(of a road surface) to lose aggregate.

a tangle or complication.

Dutch rafelen
1575–85

rav′el•er;
[esp. Brit.,] rav′el•ler, n.

rav′el•ly, adj.

Ra•vel (rə vel′; Fr. ra vel′),USA pronunciation n.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

ravel /ˈræv^əl/ vb ( -els, -elling, -elled) ( US -els, -eling, -eled)

to tangle (threads, fibres, etc) or (of threads, fibres, etc) to become entangled
(often followed by out) to tease or draw out (the fibres of a fabric or garment) or (of a garment or fabric) to fray out in loose ends; unravel
(transitive) usually followed by out: to disentangle or resolve: to ravel out a complicated story

a tangle or complication

Etymology: 16th Century: from Middle Dutch ravelenˈravelly adj

'ravel' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

knot - Satie - Daphnis and Chloe - fray - raveling - ravelment - unravel

In Lists: Villagers and heroes, more...

Synonyms: untwist, come apart, smooth out, untangle, disentangle, more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "ravel" in the title:

"... to (ravel-unravel) the problem ..."
“ravel out” vs “unravel”
get into the ravel of traffic frayed out about
ravel = unravel
ravel vs unravel - rather strange
ravel vs. unravel
The verb "ravel" has two contradicting definitions.

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⇱ ravel - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

ravel