tamper
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
to meddle, especially for the purpose of altering, damaging, or misusing (usually followed bywith ).
Someone has been tampering with the lock.
- Synonyms:
- interfere
-
to make changes in something, especially in order to falsify (usually followed bywith ).
to tamper with official records.
-
to engage secretly or improperly in something.
-
to engage in underhand or corrupt dealings, especially in order to influence improperly (usually followed bywith ).
Any lawyer who tries to tamper with a jury should be disbarred.
noun
verb
-
(usually foll by with) to interfere or meddle
-
to use corrupt practices such as bribery or blackmail
-
(usually foll by with) to attempt to influence or corrupt, esp by bribery
to tamper with the jury
noun
-
a person or thing that tamps, esp an instrument for packing down tobacco in a pipe
-
a casing around the core of a nuclear weapon to increase its efficiency by reflecting neutrons and delaying the expansion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tamper1
First recorded in 1560–70; probably variant of temper (verb)
Origin of tamper2
Explanation
To tamper is to alter or mess with something, usually for a bad reason. Tamper also refers to being nosy about someone's business. Don’t tamper with anything; it’s annoying. Tamper involves sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. One kind of tampering involves meddling in other people's affairs. The other kind of tampering has to do with things. If you tamper with financial records, you alter them. Sometimes medicine or food will come with a label that says “tamper proof,” like when a bottle of vitamins is sealed so that you can’t open it until you buy it.
Vocabulary lists containing tamper
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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.
The record was big, and I didn’t want to tamper with it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
“If I have instincts I feel are right, I don’t want anyone to tamper with them,” he told After Dark magazine in 1973.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
The most plausible answer, of course, is that Luke’s account was finished before their deaths and no one in subsequent decades felt sufficiently bold to tamper with it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
"We ask visitors not to tamper with any art on display," they added.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2025
Several reporters, remembering the foiled attempts to kidnap Woolf and tamper with Seabiscuit, speculated that the foul was the result of a race-fixing conspiracy.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
