Meddle
verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To interfere in or with; to concern oneself with unduly.
"[…] why ſhouldeſt thou meddle to thy hurt,[…]?"
- 2 intrude in other people's affairs or business; interfere unwantedly wordnet
- 3 To interest or engage oneself; to have to do (with), in a good sense. obsolete
"[…]ſtuddy to be quyet / and to medle with youre owne buſynes[…]."
- 4 To mix (something) with some other substance; to commingle, combine, blend. obsolete
"[H]e cutt a lock of all their heare, / Which medling with their blood & earth, he threw / Into the graue,[…]."
- 5 To have sex. US, intransitive, regional
"But after god came to Adam and bad hym knowe his wyf flesshly as nature requyred / Soo lay Adam with his wyf vnder the same tree / and anone the tree whiche was whyte and ful grene as ony grasse and alle that came oute of hit / and in the same tyme that they medled to gyders there was Abel begoten / thus was the tree longe of grene colour"
Example
More examples"It is not my part to meddle in your affairs."
Etymology
From Middle English medlen, from Anglo-Norman medler, from Early Medieval Latin misculāre, derived from Latin misceō (“to mix”).
Related phrases
More for "meddle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.