med ‧ dle /ˈmedl/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: mesler , medler , from Latin miscere 'to mix' ]
1 . to deliberately try to influence or change a situation that does not concern you, or that you do not understand SYN interfere
meddle in
I don’t like other people meddling in the way I run this prison.
He accused the US of meddling in China’s internal affairs.
meddle with
I’m not the sort of newspaper owner who meddles with editorial policy.
2 . British English to touch something which you should not touch, especially in a careless way that might break it
meddle with
You have no right to come in here meddling with my things.
—meddler noun [countable]
—meddling noun [uncountable]
—meddling adjective [only before noun] :
meddling politicians
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THESAURUS
▪ interfere to try to get involved in a situation where you are not wanted or needed:
She tried not to interfere in her children’s lives.
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It’s not your problem, so don’t interfere.
▪ meddle to interfere in someone else’s affairs in a way that is annoying for them. Meddle is more informal than interfere , and has more of a feeling of being annoyed:
I did not want my parents meddling in my private affairs.
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He warned diplomats against meddling in Indonesia’s affairs.
▪ intrude to interfere by being somewhere where you are not wanted, or getting involved in a situation that is private – used especially when saying that you want to avoid doing this:
Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude while you were on the phone.
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When someone dies, people are often worried about intruding.
▪ butt in informal to interfere by trying to become involved in a private situation or conversation that does not concern you:
Stop butting in, will you!
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I didn’t want to give them any advice in case they thought I was butting in.
▪ pry to try to find out what someone else is doing in their private life, by asking questions or secretly checking what they are doing, in a way that seems annoying or rude:
Journalists like to pry into the lives of the rich and famous.
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I didn’t mean to pry – I just wanted to know if I could help.
▪ poke/stick your nose into something informal to ask questions about someone else’s private life or give them advice they do not want, in a way that annoys them:
She’s one of those people who’s always poking her nose into other people’s business.