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

Smith-Njigba ended up all by himself on the Texans sideline, and official Nathan Jones made sure that nobody messed with the Seahawks receiver. —Mark Kern, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025

The thing about Ben and I switching from drums to guitar all night messed with my muscle memory. —Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025

Put that money away and don’t mess with it for a while. —Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025

McComber warned them not to mess with their gear, and then watched one of the fishermen do just that. —Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 22 Oct. 2025