lj@whitaker:~/cvs/ljcomint$ dict ravel
4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ravel \Rav"el\, v. i.
     1. To become untwisted or unwoven; to be disentangled; to be
        relieved of intricacy.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To fall into perplexity and confusion. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Till, by their own perplexities involved,
              They ravel more, still less resolved. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To make investigation or search, as by picking out the
        threads of a woven pattern. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The humor of raveling into all these mystical or
              entangled matters.                    --Sir W.
                                                    Temple.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ravel \Rav"el\ (r[a^]v"'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Raveled} (-'ld)
     or {Ravelled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Raveling} or {Ravelling}.]
     [OD. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln,
     reffeln.]
     1. To separate or undo the texture of; to unravel; to take
        apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed
        by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a stocking.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To undo the intricacies of; to disentangle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To pull apart, as the threads of a texture, and let them
        fall into a tangled mass; hence, to entangle; to make
        intricate; to involve.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              What glory's due to him that could divide
              Such raveled interests? has the knot untied?
                                                    --Waller.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and
              indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or
              raveled and entangled in weak discourses! --Jer.
                                                    Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Ravel
       n 1: French composer and exponent of Impressionsim (1875-1937)
            [syn: {Maurice Ravel}]
       2: a row of unravelled stitches; "she got a run in her
          stocking" [syn: {run}, {ladder}]
       v 1: disentangle; "can you unravel the mystery?"; "unravel the
            ball or yarn" [syn: {unravel}, {ravel out}]
       2: tangle or complicate; "a ravelled story" [syn: {tangle}, {knot}]
          [ant: {unravel}, {unravel}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  98 Moby Thesaurus words for "ravel":
     Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption, answer,
     ball up, bottom, can of worms, clarify, clear up, complex,
     complicate, confound, confuse, crack, debug, decipher, decode,
     disembroil, disentangle, disintricate, disinvolve, divine, do,
     dope, dope out, embrangle, entangle, explain, fathom, figure out,
     find out, find the answer, find the solution, foul up, get,
     get right, guess, guess right, have it, hit it, implicate,
     interpret, involve, jungle, knot, labyrinth, louse up, make out,
     maze, meander, mesh, mess, mess up, mix up, muck, muck up, muddle,
     open the lock, perplex, plumb, psych, psych out, puzzle out,
     ramify, ravel out, resolve, riddle, screw up, snafu, snake pit,
     snarl, snarl up, solve, sort out, tangle, tangled skein, unbraid,
     unclutter, uncoil, undo, unknot, unlock, unmix, unravel, unriddle,
     unscramble, unsnarl, untangle, unthread, untwine, untwist, unweave,
     unwind, webwork, wheels within wheels, wilderness, work,
     work out