interfere

present singular third person interferes · participle present interfering · participle past interfered · past interfered · alternative obsolete enterfere

1. intransitiveTo get involved or involve oneself, causing disturbance.

   I always try not to interfere with other people’s personal affairs.

   1 more example

   I’ve known ere now an interfering branch / Of alder catch my lifted axe behind me. / But that was in the woods, to hold my hand / From striking at another alder’s roots, / And that was, as I say, an alder branch.

   1923 October, Robert Frost, “[Notes.] The Axe-helve.”, in New Hampshire […], New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 37

2. intransitivenatural sciencesOf waves, to be correlated with each other when overlapped or superposed.

   Where the radio-wave signals of the two radio stations interfere the listener hears nothing but noise.

   1 more example

   Correlated waves interfere to produce interesting patterns, while uncorrelated waves overlap without interfering.

3. Of a horse, to strike one foot against the opposite foot or ankle by using the legs.
4. intransitiveTo sexually molest, especially of a child.

   The investigation found the girls had been interfered with.