Meddling

4 definitions found

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

  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.]


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              More to know
              Did never meddle with my thoughts.    --Shak.
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     2. To interest or engage one's self; to have to do; -- in a
        good sense. [Obs.] --Barrow.
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              Study to be quiet, and to meddle with your own
              business.                             --Tyndale.
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     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.
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              Why shouldst thou meddle to thy hurt? --2 Kings xiv.
                                                    10.
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              The civil lawyers . . . have meddled in a matter
              that belongs not to them.             --Locke.
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     {To meddle and make}, to intrude one's self into another
        person's concerns. [Archaic] --Shak.
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     Syn: To interpose; interfere; intermeddle.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Meddling \Med"dling\, a.
     Meddlesome. --Macaulay.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  meddling
       adj : intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner; "an interfering
             old woman"; "bustling about self-importantly making an
             officious nuisance of himself"; "busy about other
             people's business" [syn: {interfering}, {meddlesome}, {officious},
              {busy}, {busybodied}]
       n : the act of altering something secretly or improperly [syn: {tampering}]

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

  25 Moby Thesaurus words for "meddling":
     busy, busybody, butting-in, forward, forwardness, impertinence,
     impertinent, inquisitive, inquisitiveness, intermeddling,
     intrusiveness, meddlesome, meddlesomeness, nosy, obtrusiveness,
     officious, officiousness, presumption, presumptuous,
     presumptuousness, prying, pushing, pushy, self-appointed, snoopy