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

Tom Rothman was messing with me when nobody was messing with me. —Benjamin Vanhoose, Peoplemag, 6 June 2024

But in a warming world where spring conditions arrive sooner, climate change is messing with the bugs' internal alarm clocks. —Ben Tracy, CBS News, 3 June 2024

Google, afraid to mess with its cash cow, initially took a more cautious approach. —Katie Robertson, New York Times, 1 June 2024

But in a Crichton novel, that petri dish must be messed with. —Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024

Nick was very good at getting into your head and messing with your head. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 28 May 2024

Jennifer Lopez had to see for herself Netflix’s billboard in Los Angeles extolling people to not mess with her, as her latest film, Atlas, premiered on the streaming service. —David Chiu, Peoplemag, 25 May 2024

Yu says microplastics could physically disrupt spermatogenesis, mess with the barrier between the testicles, or be a vehicle for harmful chemicals. —Will Stone, NPR, 22 May 2024

People would mess with the cars—putting traffic cones on top of the vehicles so the robo-taxis would pull over, or throwing rocks at the windshields. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 16 May 2024