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

Nonetheless, alcohol is well-known to spike inflammation in the body, in part by messing with the integrity of the gut lining. —Erica Sloan, SELF, 25 Apr. 2025

As resentment grows between Ivy and Theo, their plots to mess with each other grow worse — culminating with Ivy pointing a gun at her husband in one moment. —Tommy McArdle, People.com, 16 Apr. 2025

Wash away stacks of gunk, grime and sticky messes with ease. —Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025

The team’s depth was already a sore spot and looks like an absolute mess with everyone moving up the lineup in Hughes’ absence. —Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025