Bangle
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A rigid bracelet or anklet, especially one with no clasp.
"Mrs. MacAndrew smoothed down the lap of her gown, and gold bangles fell over her wrists."
- 2 The cut branch of a tree; a large, rough stick; the largest piece of wood in a bundle of twigs dialectal
- 3 cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing wordnet
- 4 jewelry worn around the wrist for decoration wordnet
- 1 to beat about or beat down, as corn by the wind. obsolete, transitive
- 2 to waste away little by little; squander carelessly; fritter (away). dialectal, obsolete
"Thus betwixt hope and fear, suspicions, angers […] betwixt falling in, falling out, etc., we bangle away our best days, befool out our times […]."
- 3 (falconry) to beat about in the air; flutter: said of a hawk which does not rise steadily and then swoop down upon its prey. intransitive
- 4 to flap or hang down loosely, as a hat brim or an animal's ear. intransitive
Example
More examples"She was dressed with exceeding smartness and wore several bangle bracelets that glittered and rattled and tinkled with every movement of her hands."
Etymology
From Hindi बंग्ली (baṅglī, “glass bracelet”).
Unknown, yet probably from bang + -le (frequentative suffix).
Apparently from bang (verb) + -le (instrumental suffix), perhaps ultimately connected with Proto-Germanic *bangilaz. Compare Dutch bengel, German Bengel.
Related phrases
More for "bangle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.