snarls

Noun (1)

snarl (plural snarls)

1. A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.
   • His eye was alerted by a flutter of white seen through the snarl of branches between his stump and the Mere, and on looking more closely was surprised to see Mary sitting about a hundred yards below him on a mossy log, opposite the islet.1966, R. F. Delderfield, A Horseman Riding By, Open Road Media

   Synonyms:

   entanglement

2. An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
   • Bond grinned again as he thought of Damon's exasperation at having to dish out a lot of soft soap to Washington when he probably had plenty of other Anglo-American snarls to disentangle.1954, Ian Fleming, “True or False?”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 89

   Synonyms:

   imbroglio

3. A slow-moving traffic jam.
   • The biggest cities feel the most acute impact of the last mile – of the squads of trucks and vans, the parcel hubs and sorting centres, the parking snarls and the discarded boxes.2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian

Noun (2)

snarl (plural snarls)

1. The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
2. A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
3. A squabble.

See all 14 meanings of snarl