mess with
phrasal verb
messed with; messing with; messes with
informal
1
: to cause trouble for (someone) : to deal with (someone) in a way that may cause anger or violence
I wouldn't want to mess with him.
You'd better not be messing with me.
2
chiefly US
: to deal with or be involved with (something that causes or that could cause trouble)
The company doesn't want to mess with small distributors.
He doesn't want to mess with cocaine anymore.
3
: to handle or play with (something) in a careless way : to mess around with (something)
Don't mess with the camera.
Examples of mess with in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those agents can overprice homes, mess with marketing, or fail to book timely showings.
—
Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024
Modena has, quite sensibly, not messed with the Shamal’s gloriously angular shape too much on the MA-01.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024
Fans are given license to mess with the player diving over the wall.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
Ever since 2008’s Taken opened up a surprisingly durable late-career reinvention for Liam Neeson as a taciturn action star of tough-guy dad thrillers, frequently dispatching lowlifes who mess with his family, it’s become the norm to expect more of the same.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Oct. 2024
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Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024
Modena has, quite sensibly, not messed with the Shamal’s gloriously angular shape too much on the MA-01.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024
Fans are given license to mess with the player diving over the wall.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
Ever since 2008’s Taken opened up a surprisingly durable late-career reinvention for Liam Neeson as a taciturn action star of tough-guy dad thrillers, frequently dispatching lowlifes who mess with his family, it’s become the norm to expect more of the same.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess with
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Cite this Entry
“Mess with.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mess%20with. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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