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meddle

[med-l]

verb (used without object), -dled, -dling.

to involve oneself in a matter without right or invitation; interfere officiously and unwantedly: Stop meddling in my personal life!

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English medlen < Old French me(s)dler, variant of mesler (French mêler) < Vulgar Latin *misculāre, frequentative of Latin miscēre to mix

Related forms

med·dler, noun

med·dling·ly, adverb

o·ver·med·dle, verb (used without object), -dled, -dling.

un·med·dled, adjective

un·med·dling, adjective

EXPAND

un·med·dling·ly, adverb

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: medal, meddle, metal, mettle.

Synonyms
intervene, intrude, pry.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To meddle

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Meddle is one of our favorite verbs.

So is subtilize. Does it mean:

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

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Example Sentences

From across the street, another woman ran to protect the boy, but the men ordered her not to meddle.

Great mischief is possible if boards try to meddle with the substance of the curriculum.

In banking too, the government has shown an itch to meddle.

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From across the street, another woman ran to protect the boy, but the men ordered her not to meddle.

Great mischief is possible if boards try to meddle with the substance of the curriculum.

In banking too, the government has shown an itch to meddle.

Politicians continue to meddle and seem to think that electrons will follow their politicaly correct whims.

Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks, for they are subtle and will get even.

Chinese artists enjoy unprecedented levels of freedom, that is, as long as they don't meddle with politics.

Unfortunately, such dysfunctions tend to remain unaddressed because no outsider wants or dares to meddle in a marriage.

Some of the central bank's power to meddle has been reduced.

Recently if seems they want to meddle more, which will make things worse.

Meddle with a campus's schedule, they say, and you are meddling with its basic metabolism.

Nor would it meddle in the detail of compensation packages.

Even the centrists within the party agree that the government needs to meddle in the economy more than it once did.

Sensible folk do not meddle with fire, yet central banks are considered fair game.

What it will not do is meddle in the issue of how the vigilantes should be punished.

Possibly, as long as investors do not meddle too closely.

It is, at its core, a dispute over the commission's right to meddle in the internal affairs of a state.

By retaining big minority stakes or golden shares, successive governments have kept their capacity to meddle.

He says-surprise-that the world's big powers should not meddle in his region.

So it can and does meddle in policies that used to be the preserve of other departments.

If you meddle with it you're only gonna make it worse.

Few of the princes, politicians and strongmen who wield ultimate authority over these firms can resist the urge to meddle.

But they have rarely forfeited control and have remained inclined to meddle.

The publication of official statistics was curtailed, for fear that it would encourage civil servants to meddle.

Or perhaps he fears giving the army an excuse to meddle openly in politics yet again.

They meddle in everything, change regulations, and issue or revoke licences and permits at whim.

Together, these patriarchs meddle in the affairs of the townsfolk, who supply plenty of affairs to be meddled.

Some banking spokesmen claim the law does not permit government to meddle in a bank's decision where to do business.

The school reforms are popular with parents, he says, and politicians know they meddle with them at their peril.

Americans have always hated it when foreign powers appear to meddle in their politics.

He has rebuffed calls to suspend the chief detective, repeating that he will not meddle in inter-agency disputes.

Gorbachev now seems to be saying it is wrong for superpowers to meddle.

Underlying the feud was a complaint that since only three members hold regular jobs, the board has time to meddle in management.

There are piemakers who embrace the standard whipped-cream topping, and others who meddle with meringue.

Yet politicians' attempts to meddle with pay have often backfired.

Zakarian was free to mingle, but that didn't mean he didn't meddle.

Often the best thing governments can do is meddle less.

Boyd has a precise sense of what she wants, knows when to meddle and when to back off, and is willing to take risks.

Though the show, in which celebrities meddle in real-life marital fights, has gotten good notice from some critics.

But giving the bank a public mission would invite congressional oversight-and tempt legislators to meddle in funding decisions.

It's an impossibly slippery slope to manage and it gives the government yet another opening to meddle in pretty much everything.

Business owners also complain that investors meddle too much with the chemistry that makes their venture special.

Nobody should meddle lightly with long-established parliamentary procedure.

But the mayor has typically resisted outside efforts to meddle in his decisions.

The king's power went unchecked for many centuries, with no parliament to meddle in the kingdom's affairs.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

meddle (ˈmɛd^əl)

—vb
1.	(usually foll by with) to interfere officiously or annoyingly
2.	(usually foll by in) to involve oneself unwarrantedly: to meddle in someone's private affairs

[C14: from Old French medler, ultimately from Latin miscēre to mix]

'meddler

—n

'meddling

—*adj*

'meddlingly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

meddle

late 13c., "to mingle," from O.N.Fr. medler (O.Fr. mesler) "to mix, mingle, to meddle," from V.L. *misculare, from L. miscere "to mix" (see mix). Meaning "to concern oneself" (usually disparaging) is attested from early 15c. From mid-14c. to 1700, it also was a euphemism for

EXPAND

"have sexual intercourse." Related: Meddled; meddler; meddlesome; meddling.

COLLAPSE

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Matching Quote

"He even ran away with hunself and became a farsoonerite, saying he would far sooner muddle through the hash of lentils in Europe than meddle with Irrland's split little pea."

-James Joyce

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