Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Meddling |
MeddlingAdjective1. Intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner; "an interfering old woman"; "bustling about self-importantly making an officious nuisance of himself"; "busy about other people's business". Noun1. The act of altering something secretly or improperly. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "meddling" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1385. (references) |
Synonyms: MeddlingSynonyms: busy (adj), busybodied (adj), interfering (adj), meddlesome (adj), officious (adj), tampering (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Activity | Officiousness; dabbling, meddling; interference, interposition, intermeddling; tampering with, intrigue. |
Meddling; Verb: meddlesome, pushing, officious, overofficious, intrigant. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Meddling |
| English words defined with "meddling": busy, busybodied ♦ interfering ♦ meddlesome, Meddlingly ♦ not intrusive ♦ officious ♦ unintrusive. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "meddling": Crepidam ♦ Ducks ♦ KATYDID. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It would have worked too if it wasn't for you meddling sons of (Scooby-Doo; writing credit: William Hanna; Joseph Barbera) The way she insists on meddling in other people's love lives (Grapevine; writing credit: David Frankel) Well, wouldn't it be better to kill a few now than, with their meddling, permit them to destroy the entire universe? (Plan 9 from Outer Space; writing credit: Edward D. Wood Jr.) The fool, the meddling idiot! (Forbidden Planet; writing credit: Irving Block; Allen Adler) And you're meddling with powers you can't possibly comprehend. (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; writing credit: Mario Van Peebles) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Meddling Women (1924) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Venezuela | During public remarks on June 9, President Chavez announced that he had given orders that, as of that date, foreigners who criticize the country, the President, or the armed forces would be expelled from country for meddling in domestic politics. (references) |
Economic History | Zimbabwe | Finance and Insurance Sectors continue, overall, to be profitable although banks are increasingly worried about the growth of non-performing assets in this difficult operating environment, as well as increased Government meddling in the financial and money markets. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Meddling" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 71.83% of the time. "Meddling" is used about 71 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 71.83% | 51 | 47,619 |
| Noun (singular) | 22.54% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 4.23% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.41% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 71 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "meddling": somebody has been meddling with my papers!. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
meddling | 20 |
in law meddling mother | 4 |
girl meddling pesky | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "meddling"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 插手 (meddle, Meddled). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | sekaantuminen (interference, intervention). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | mêlant. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | einmischung (interference). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | παρέμβαση (encroachment, interference, interruption, intervention). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | beavatkozás (encroachment, interference, interposal, intervention). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | percampuran (social intercourse), campuran (admixture, alloy, amalgam, assortment, blend, composite, concoction, interference, intervention, mash, medley, mixture). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | ingerenza (interference, officiousness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | お節介 (nosy), 手出し (interfering), 御節介 (nosy), 弄り , 口出し (interference). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | おせっかい (nosy), くちだし (butting in, interference), いじり, てだし (interfering). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | eddlingmay intruso (gatecrasher, incoming, interloper, intruder, intrusive, newcomer, obtrusive, outsider), intromissão (immobile, intervention, intromission, intrusion, obtrusion). (various references) cineva a umblat cu hârtiile mele (somebody has been meddling with my papers). (various references) riut (who was meddling you?, with you). (various references) intromisión (intromission), entrometido (busybody, interfering, interloper, meddler, meddlesome, obtrusive, pragmatic, pragmatical, prying). (various references) karışma (embroilment, interference, interposition, intervention, involvement, mind your own business, mix, mixing, mixture). (various references) що втручається не свої справи. (various references) sự xen vào việc người khác, sự lăng xăng quấy rầy, sự can thiệp vào việc người khác. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Date | Source | Proverbs Chapter 20, Verse 3 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Doxa andri apostrefesqai loidoriaV paV de afrwn toioutoiV sumpleketai |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Honor est homini qui separat se a contentionibus omnes autem stulti miscentur contumeliis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Wrshipe is to the man that seuereth hym fro striues; alle forsothe foolis shul be mengd with wrong blamyngis. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | It is an honour for a man to keep from fighting, but the foolish are ever at war. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Proverbs Chapter 20, Verse 3 |
| Cebuano | ¶ Maoy usa ka kadungganan alang sa usa ka tawo ang pagpahilayo gikan sa pagpakig-away; Apan ang tagsatagsa ka buang magakaaway. |
| Chinese | 遠 離 分 爭 是 人 的 尊 榮 ． 愚 妄 人 都 愛 爭 鬧 。 |
| Croatian | Èast je èovjeku ustegnuti se od raspre, a tko je bezuman poèinje svaðu. |
| Danish | Mands Ære er det at undgå Trætte, men alle Tåber vil Strid. |
| Dutch | Het is eer voor een man, van twist af te blijven; maar ieder dwaas zal er zich in mengen. |
| Finnish | On kunniaksi miehelle riitaa karttaa, mutta kaikki hullut riitaa haastavat. |
| French | C`est une gloire pour l`homme de s`abstenir des querelles, Mais tout insensé se livre à l`emportement. |
| German | Es ist dem Mann eine Ehre, vom Hader bleiben; aber die gern Hadern, sind allzumal Narren. |
| Haitian Creole | ¶ Se bèl bagay lè yon moun evite diskisyon. Moun san konprann toujou ap chache kont. |
| Hungarian | Tisztesség az embernek elmaradni a versengéstõl; valaki pedig bolond, patvarkodik. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Hanya orang bodohlah yang suka bertengkar; sikap yang terpuji ialah menjauhi pertengkaran. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Bahwa kepujianlah bagi orang, jika berhenti dari pada perbantahan, tetapi bodohlah orang yang memasukkan dirinya kepadanya. |
| Italian | E' una gloria per l'uomo astenersi dalle contese, attaccar briga è proprio degli stolti. |
| Maori | ¶ He whakahonore mo te tangata te noho watea mai i te ngangare: engari ko nga wairangi he kowhetewhete tonu. |
| Norwegian | Det er en ære for en mann at han holder sig borte fra trette, men enhver dåre viser tenner. |
| Portuguese | Honroso é para o homem o desviar-se de questões; mas todo insensato se entremete nelas. |
| Rumanian | Este o cinste pentru om sq se fereascq de certuri; dar orice nebun se lasq stqpknit de aprindere. - |
| Russian | юЕУФШ ДМС ЮЕМПЧЕЛБ--ПФУФБФШ ПФ УУПТЩ; Б ЧУСЛЙК ЗМХРЕГ ЪБДПТЕО. |
| Spanish | Al hombre le es honroso apartarse de la contienda, pero todo insensato se envolverá en ella. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "meddling": intermeddling. (additional references) | |
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"Meddling" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: geddling, Medding, meddlings, medeling, Medlen, medling, midling. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "meddling" (pronounced me"duling or me"dling) |
| 6 | -e" d u l i ng | pedaling, peddling. |
| 5 | -d u l i ng | backpedaling, bundling, coddling, cradling, dwindling, fondling, huddling, hurdling, idling, middling, modeling, muddling, paddling, piddling, remodeling, saddling, yodeling. |
| 4 | -u l i ng | ambling, assembling, babbling, baffling, barreling, battling, belittling, bicycling, boggling, bottling, bristling, bubbling, bugling, bumbling, bungling, bustling, cackling, canceling, cancelling, channeling, chortling, circling, commingling, counseling, crippling, crumbling, cycling, dabbling, dangling, dazzling, Dialing, disabling, disgruntling, dismantling, doubling, dribbling, drizzling, embezzling, empaneling, enabling, encircling, entitling, equaling, fizzling, fumbling, funneling, gambling, giggling, gobbling, groveling, grueling, grumbling, gurgling, guzzling, haggling, hassling, hobbling, humbling, hustling, imperiling, initialing, intermingling, jiggling, jostling, juggling, labeling, leveling, mangling, marshaling, mingling, mislabeling, mottling, mumbling, muscling, nibbling, paneling, parceling, pummeling, puzzling, quadrupling, quarreling, quibbling, raveling, recycling, redoubling, refueling, resembling, reshuffling, reveling, rippling, rivaling, ruffling, rumbling, scrambling, scribbling, scuttling, settling, shriveling, shuttling, signaling, signalling, singling, sizzling, spiraling, spiralling, squabbling, stapling, stenciling, strangling, struggling, stumbling, swiveling, tabling, throttling, tingling, tinkling, toppling, totaling, totalling, toweling, traveling, travelling, trembling, tripling, troubling, tumbling, tunneling, twinkling, unraveling, unsettling, waggling, warbling, wiggling, wobbling, wrangling, wrinkling. |
| 3 | -l i ng | ailing, angling, annealing, appalling, appealing, assailing, bailing, baling, balling, bankrolling, beguiling, Belling, billing, blackmailing, boiling, Bolling, bowling, brawling, broiling, buckling, burgling, burling, cajoling, calling, Carling, ceiling, chilling, chronicling, chuckling, compelling, compiling, concealing, consoling, controlling, cooling, corralling, countervailing, coupling, cowling, crackling, crawling, cuddling, culling, curling, curtailing, darling, dawdling, dealing, decoupling, derailing, detailing, dispelling, dissembling, distilling, doling, drilling, drooling, duckling, dueling, dulling, dumpling, dwelling, earthling, emailing, enrolling, entailing, entangling, excelling, expelling, extolling, failing, falling, feeling, felling, fiddling, filing, filling, flailing, fledgling, foaling, foiling, fooling, forestalling, foretelling, fouling, foundling, freewheeling, fueling, fuelling, fulfilling, galling, grappling, Grayling, grilling, groundling, growling, hailing, handling, hauling, healing, heckling, helling, hilling, holing, howling, hurling, hurtling, inhaling, inkling, installing, instilling, jailing, Keeling, killing, kindling, kneeling, lolling, Lulling, mailing, Marling, Melling, milling, mishandling, misspelling, mothballing, mulling, nailing, needling, nestling, nonruling, oiling, outselling, overbilling, overhauling, overkilling, overruling, overselling, panhandling, paralleling, parboiling, paroling, patrolling, pearling, peeling, pickling, piling, Pilling, Pindling, poling, polling, pooling, prevailing, profiling, propelling, prowling, pulling, quelling, quilling, Quisling, railing, rambling, rankling, rappelling, rattling, rebelling, recalling, reconciling, reeling, regaling, rekindling, repealing, repelling, rescheduling, reselling, retailing, retelling, retooling, revealing, ridiculing, Riesling, rifling, rilling, roiling, rolling, rototilling, ruling, rustling, sailing, sampling, Sandling, sapling, scaling, scheduling, Schilling, schooling, scowling, sealing, seedling, Seeling, selling, shelling, shilling, shoveling, shuffling, sibling, skilling, smelling, smiling, smuggling, snarling, Snelling, snowballing, sparkling, Sparling, spelling, spilling, spoiling, sprawling, sprinkling, squealing, stalling, starling, startling, stealing, sterling, stifling, stockpiling, stonewalling, storytelling, straddling, strickling, stripling, strolling, styling, suckling, surveilling, swashbuckling, swelling, swilling, swindling, swirling, tackling, tailing, tangling, telling, thrilling, Tilling, toddling, toggling, toiling, tolling, tooling, trailing, trampling, trickling, trifling, trilling, trolling, twiddling, twirling, unappealing, unavailing, unbundling, underling, underselling, unfailing, unfeeling, unfurling, unsmiling, untangling, unveiling, unwilling, veiling, waffling, wailing, walling, weakling, welling, whaling, wheeling, whirling, whistling, whittling, wholesaling, wiling, willing, wrestling, yearling, yelling. |
| 4 | -d l i ng | cuddling, dawdling, fiddling, foundling, groundling, handling, kindling, mishandling, needling, panhandling, Pindling, rekindling, Sandling, seedling, straddling, swindling, toddling, twiddling, unbundling. |
| 3 | -l i ng | ailing, ambling, angling, annealing, appalling, appealing, assailing, assembling, babbling, backpedaling, baffling, bailing, baling, balling, bankrolling, barreling, battling, beguiling, belittling, Belling, bicycling, billing, blackmailing, boggling, boiling, Bolling, bottling, bowling, brawling, bristling, broiling, bubbling, buckling, bugling, bumbling, bundling, bungling, burgling, burling, bustling, cackling, cajoling, calling, canceling, cancelling, Carling, ceiling, channeling, chilling, chortling, chronicling, chuckling, circling, coddling, commingling, compelling, compiling, concealing, consoling, controlling, cooling, corralling, counseling, countervailing, coupling, cowling, crackling, cradling, crawling, crippling, crumbling, culling, curling, curtailing, cycling, dabbling, dangling, darling, dazzling, dealing, decoupling, derailing, detailing, Dialing, disabling, disgruntling, dismantling, dispelling, dissembling, distilling, doling, doubling, dribbling, drilling, drizzling, drooling, duckling, dueling, dulling, dumpling, dwelling, dwindling, earthling, emailing, embezzling, empaneling, enabling, encircling, enrolling, entailing, entangling, entitling, equaling, excelling, expelling, extolling, failing, falling, feeling, felling, filing, filling, fizzling, flailing, fledgling, foaling, foiling, fondling, fooling, forestalling, foretelling, fouling, freewheeling, fueling, fuelling, fulfilling, fumbling, funneling, galling, gambling, giggling, gobbling, grappling, Grayling, grilling, groveling, growling, grueling, grumbling, gurgling, guzzling, haggling, hailing, hassling, hauling, healing, heckling, helling, hilling, hobbling, holing, howling, huddling, humbling, hurdling, hurling, hurtling, hustling, idling, imperiling, inhaling, initialing, inkling, installing, instilling, intermingling, jailing, jiggling, jostling, juggling, Keeling, killing, kneeling, labeling, leveling, lolling, Lulling, mailing, mangling, Marling, marshaling, Melling, middling, milling, mingling, mislabeling, misspelling, modeling, mothballing, mottling, muddling, mulling, mumbling, muscling, nailing, nestling, nibbling, nonruling, oiling, outselling, overbilling, overhauling, overkilling, overruling, overselling, paddling, paneling, paralleling, parboiling, parceling, paroling, patrolling, pearling, pedaling, peddling, peeling, pickling, piddling, piling, Pilling, poling, polling, pooling, prevailing, profiling, propelling, prowling, pulling, pummeling, puzzling, quadrupling, quarreling, quelling, quibbling, quilling, Quisling, railing, rambling, rankling, rappelling, rattling, raveling, rebelling, recalling, reconciling, recycling, redoubling, reeling, refueling, regaling, remodeling, repealing, repelling, rescheduling, reselling, resembling, reshuffling, retailing, retelling, retooling, revealing, reveling, ridiculing, Riesling, rifling, rilling, rippling, rivaling, roiling, rolling, rototilling, ruffling, ruling, rumbling, rustling, saddling, sailing, sampling, sapling, scaling, scheduling, Schilling, schooling, scowling, scrambling, scribbling, scuttling, sealing, Seeling, selling, settling, shelling, shilling, shoveling, shriveling, shuffling, shuttling, sibling, signaling, signalling, singling, sizzling, skilling, smelling, smiling, smuggling, snarling, Snelling, snowballing, sparkling, Sparling, spelling, spilling, spiraling, spiralling, spoiling, sprawling, sprinkling, squabbling, squealing, stalling, stapling, starling, startling, stealing, stenciling, sterling, stifling, stockpiling, stonewalling, storytelling, strangling, strickling, stripling, strolling, struggling, stumbling, styling, suckling, surveilling, swashbuckling, swelling, swilling, swirling, swiveling, tabling, tackling, tailing, tangling, telling, thrilling, throttling, Tilling, tingling, tinkling, toggling, toiling, tolling, tooling, toppling, totaling, totalling, toweling, trailing, trampling, traveling, travelling, trembling, trickling, trifling, trilling, tripling, trolling, troubling, tumbling, tunneling, twinkling, twirling, unappealing, unavailing, underling, underselling, unfailing, unfeeling, unfurling, unraveling, unsettling, unsmiling, untangling, unveiling, unwilling, veiling, waffling, waggling, wailing, walling, warbling, weakling, welling, whaling, wheeling, whirling, whistling, whittling, wholesaling, wiggling, wiling, willing, wobbling, wrangling, wrestling, wrinkling, yearling, yelling, yodeling. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-d-e-g-i-l-m-n" | |
-1 letter: melding, mingled. | |
-2 letters: dindle, dinged, dingle, engild, gilded, glided, glimed, limned, midden, middle, midleg, milden, minded, mingle. | |
-3 letters: deign, denim, dined, dinge, gelid, gimel, glide, glime, idled, ingle, limed, limen, lined, midge, mined, nided. | |
-4 letters: deil, deli, deni, died, diel, dime, dine, ding, geld, gied, gien, gild, gled, glen, glim, idem, idle, lend, lied. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-d-e-g-i-l-m-n" | |
+2 letters: bemuddling. | |
+3 letters: demandingly, dislodgment, maddeningly. | |
+4 letters: demodulating, dislodgement, dislodgments. | |
+5 letters: dislodgements, intermeddling. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4D 65 64 64 6C 69 6E 67 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-- . -.. -.. .-.. .. -. --. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "meddling" |
