meddle

Verb
Synonyms: tamper

WordNet 3.0

Verb (1)

  1. intrude in other people's affairs or business; interfere unwantedly“Don't meddle in my affairs!”Synonyms: tamper
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Meddle \Med"dle\, v. t. To mix; to mingle. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

"Wine meddled with gall." --Wyclif (Matt. xxvii. 34). [1913 Webster]


Meddle \Med"dle`\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Meddled; p. pr. & vb. n. Meddling.] [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. m[^e]ler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. [root]271. See Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.] [1913 Webster]

1.To mix; to mingle. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

More to know Did never meddle with my thoughts.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.To interest or engage one's self; to have to do; -- in a good sense. [Obs.] --Barrow. [1913 Webster]

Study to be quiet, and to meddle with your own business.— Tyndale.[1913 Webster]

3.To interest or engage one's self unnecessarily or impertinently, to interfere or busy one's self improperly with another's affairs; specifically, to handle or distrub another's property without permission; -- often followed by with or in. [1913 Webster]

Why shouldst thou meddle to thy hurt?— 2 Kings xiv. 10.[1913 Webster]
The civil lawyers . . . have meddled in a matter that belongs not to them.— Locke.[1913 Webster]

To meddle and make, to intrude one's self into another person's concerns. [Archaic] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To interpose; interfere; intermeddle. [1913 Webster]

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