The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mangle \Man"gle\ (m[a^][ng]"g'l), v. t. [Cf. D. mangelen. See
   Mangle, n.]
   To smooth with a mangle, as damp linen or cloth.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

mangle \man"gle\, n. [D. mangel, fr. OE. mangonel a machine for
   throwing stones, LL. manganum, Gr. ? a machine for defending
   fortifications, axis of a pulley. Cf. Mangonel.]
   A machine for smoothing linen or cotton cloth, as sheets,
   tablecloths, napkins, and clothing, by roller pressure, often
   with heated rollers.
   [1913 Webster]

   Mangle rack (Mach.), a contrivance for converting
      continuous circular motion into reciprocating rectilinear
      motion, by means of a rack and pinion, as in the mangle.
      The pinion is held to the rack by a groove in such a
      manner that it passes alternately from one side of the
      rack to the other, and thus gives motion to it in opposite
      directions, according to the side in which its teeth are
      engaged.

   Mangle wheel, a wheel in which the teeth, or pins, on its
      face, are interrupted on one side, and the pinion, working
      in them, passes from inside to outside of the teeth
      alternately, thus converting the continuous circular
      motion of the pinion into a reciprocating circular motion
      of the wheel.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mangle \Man"gle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mangled; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Mangling.] [A frequentative fr. OE. manken to main, AS.
   mancian, in bemancian to mutilate, fr. L. mancus maimed;
   perh. akin to G. mangeln to be wanting.]
   1. To cut or bruise with repeated blows or strokes, making a
      ragged or torn wound, or covering with wounds; to tear in
      cutting; to cut in a bungling manner; to lacerate; to
      mutilate.
      [1913 Webster]

            Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To mutilate or injure, in making, doing, or performing;
      as, to mangle a piece of music or a recitation.
      [1913 Webster]

            To mangle a play or a novel.          --Swift.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

mangle
    n 1: clothes dryer for drying and ironing laundry by passing it
         between two heavy heated rollers
    v 1: press with a mangle; "mangle the sheets"
    2: injure badly by beating [syn: maul, mangle]
    3: alter so as to make unrecognizable; "The tourists murdered
       the French language" [syn: mangle, mutilate, murder]
    4: destroy or injure severely; "The madman mutilates art work"
       [syn: mutilate, mangle, cut up]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

43 Moby Thesaurus words for "mangle":
   bung up, butcher, calender, contort, cripple, crush, cut, damage,
   deface, defoliate, deform, denude, destroy, disfigure, dismember,
   distort, draw and quarter, flay, hack, hot-press, impair, injure,
   iron, lacerate, maim, mar, maul, mutilate, peel, pick to pieces,
   press, pull apart, roll, ruin, shred, skin, spoil, strip,
   take apart, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, wreck



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

mangle
 vt.

    1. Used similarly to mung or scribble, but more violent in its
    connotations; something that is mangled has been irreversibly and totally
    trashed.

    2. To produce the mangled name corresponding to a C++ declaration.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

mangle

   Used similarly to mung or scribble, but more violent
   in its connotations; something that is mangled has been
   irreversibly and totally trashed.