meddle
verb (used without object)
to involve oneself in a matter without right or invitation; interfere officiously and unwantedly.
had been meddling
-
past perfect progressiveof meddle.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many of them were of the opinion that the Kabaka had been meddling in politics to divert public attention from the previous frivolity of his personal life.
From Time Magazine Archive
And as her husband looked extremely displeased, she added that Eustacie had been meddling with her jewel cabinet and had been put in penitence.
From The Chaplet of Pearls by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
The government of Teheran was in one of its periodical fits of ill-temper with England; had been meddling with Afghanistan, flirting badly with Russia, and bringing ridiculous charges against the British minister.
From The Marriage of William Ashe by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
He had been meddling with the copper fire in the brewhouse, and was standing in the courtyard busied with a little wheelbarrow.
From Fridtjof Nansen A book for the young by Bull, Jacob B.
Since the fourth year of the Peloponnesian War, Athens had been meddling in the affairs of Sicily, under pretence of aiding the Ionian cities, who dreaded the encroaching ambition of Syracuse.
From Stories from Thucydides by Havell, H. L. (Herbert Lord)
