MEDDLE

meddle, tamper

(verb) intrude in other people’s affairs or business; interfere unwantedly; “Don’t meddle in my affairs!”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

meddle (third-person singular simple present meddles, present participle meddling, simple past and past participle meddled)

To interfere in or with; to concern oneself with unduly. [from 14thc.]

(obsolete) To interest or engage oneself; to have to do (with), in a good sense.

(obsolete) To mix (something) with some other substance; to commingle, combine, blend. [14th-17thc.]

(intransitive, now US regional) To have sex. [from 14thc.]

Synonyms

• (to interfere in or with): dabble, stick one's nose into, stick one's oar in

• (to mix): bemingle, combine, ming; see also mix

• (to have sex): do it, get it on, ming; see also copulate

Anagrams

• melded

Source: Wiktionary


Med"dle`, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Meddled; p. pr. & vb. n. Meddling.] Etym: [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. mĂŞler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.]

1. To mix; to mingle. [Obs.] More to know Did never meddle with my thoughts. Shak.

2. To interest or engage one's self; to have to do; -- [Obs.] Barrow. Study to be quiet, and to meddle with your own business. Tyndale.

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. Why shouldst thou meddle to thy hurt 2 Kings xiv. 10. The civil lawyers . . . have meddled in a matter that belongs not to them. Locke. To meddle and make, to intrude one's self into another person's concerns. [Archaic] Shak.

Syn.

– To interpose; interfere; intermeddle.

Med"dle, v. t.

Definition: To mix; to mingle. [Obs.] Chaucer. "Wine meddled with gall." Wyclif (Matt. xxvii. 34).

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 June 2024

AUDACIOUS

(adjective) invulnerable to fear or intimidation; “audacious explorers”; “fearless reporters and photographers”; “intrepid pioneers”


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