mess with

phrasal verb

messed with; messing with; messes with

informal

: 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.

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.

: 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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally with fake ticket bookings just to mess with him. —

Steffi Cao, The Atlantic, 19 Jan. 2025 That’s not a clean solution, messing with the advantage of a bye. —

Chris Vannini, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025 Part of my message to them is nobody comes in your house messing with your stuff. —

Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 17 Jan. 2025 However, newer research has found that combining aerobic and strength training does not mess with gains in muscle mass and strength. —

Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 14 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for mess with