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
Looking back, Gasteyer is thrilled that Ferrell ended up messing with Combs, who went on to become a notoriously controversial figure with numerous allegations of abuse against him.
—
Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2024
The most obvious and direct one would begin to mess with renewal of their broadcast television licenses.
—Forbestv, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Fix the Hide Before Tweaking the Spread If things aren’t going as planned and ducks aren’t finishing, duck hunters tend to want to mess with the decoy spread.
—Joe Arterburn, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
As for her potential co-habitants in the dirt, co-showrunner Joe Wiseman assures us that Patience isn’t lying about the others to mess with our beloved ghosts.
—Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for mess with 
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Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2024
The most obvious and direct one would begin to mess with renewal of their broadcast television licenses.
—Forbestv, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Fix the Hide Before Tweaking the Spread If things aren’t going as planned and ducks aren’t finishing, duck hunters tend to want to mess with the decoy spread.
—Joe Arterburn, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
As for her potential co-habitants in the dirt, co-showrunner Joe Wiseman assures us that Patience isn’t lying about the others to mess with our beloved ghosts.
—Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 31 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 2 Dec. 2024.
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