tamper with
Idioms-
Interfere or meddle, especially in a harmful way. For example, If you tamper with that lock it's sure to break . [c. 1600]
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Engage in improper or secret dealings, as in He was accused of tampering with the jury . [c. 1600]
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 initial search focused on video footage that showed a masked person wearing gloves and a backpack appearing to tamper with a camera at her front door the morning she disappeared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 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
There’s no worrying about that now that teams can tamper with the balls again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
The e-passport includes a small chip that stores biometric information, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
“It was to you that I had given my trust and the only way a stranger could tamper with that trust was with your permission. I blamed only you.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
