What does interfere mean?

Definitions for interfere
ˌɪn tərˈfɪərin·ter·fer·e

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word interfere.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. interfereverb

    come between so as to be hindrance or obstacle

    "Your talking interferes with my work!"

  2. intervene, step in, interfere, interposeverb

    get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force

    "Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II?"

GCIDE

  1. Interfereverb

    To come in collision; to be in opposition; to clash; -- usually used with with; as, interfering claims, or commands; workers in a crowded shop may interfere with each other's activity.

  2. Interfereverb

    To enter into, or take a part in, the concerns of others; to intermeddle; to interpose; -- used with in or with; as, to interfere with the way I raise my children.

Wiktionary

  1. interfereverb

    To get involved or involve oneself, causing disturbance.

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

  2. interfereverb

    (of waves) To be correlated with each other when overlapped or superposed.

  3. Etymology: entreferir, from entre- + ferir, itself from the verb ferio.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Interfereverb

    Etymology: inter and ferio, Latin.

    So cautious were our ancestors in conversation, as never to interfere with party disputes in the state. Jonathan Swift.

    If each acts by an independent power, their commands may interfere. George Smalridge, Serm.

ChatGPT

  1. interfere

    Interfere generally means to get involved or intervene in a situation or process without invitation or necessity. It can also refer to the act of preventing or hindering a task or action from happening smoothly. In physics, it refers to the process where two or more waves combine to form a resultant wave of greater or lower amplitude.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Interfereverb

    to come in collision; to be in opposition; to clash; as, interfering claims, or commands

  2. Interfereverb

    to enter into, or take a part in, the concerns of others; to intermeddle; to interpose

  3. Interfereverb

    to strike one foot against the opposite foot or ankle in using the legs; -- sometimes said of a human being, but usually of a horse; as, the horse interferes

  4. Interfereverb

    to act reciprocally, so as to augment, diminish, or otherwise affect one another; -- said of waves, rays of light, heat, etc. See Interference, 2

  5. Interfereverb

    to cover the same ground; to claim the same invention

  6. Etymology: [OF. entreferir to strike each other; entre between (L. inter) + OF. ferir to strike, F. frir, fr. L. ferire. See Ferula.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Interfere

    in-tėr-fēr′, v.i. to come in collision: to intermeddle: to interpose: to act reciprocally—said of waves, rays of light, &c.—ns. Interfer′ence; Interfer′er.—adv. Interfer′ingly. [Through O. Fr., from L. inter, between, ferīre, to strike.]

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'interfere' in Verbs Frequency: #780

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce interfere?

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of interfere in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of interfere in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of interfere in a Sentence

  1. Joe Biden:

    What I've done is pushed as hard as I can to have the 5G folks( mobile phone companies) hold up and abide by what was being requested by the airlines until they could more modernize over the year, so 5G would not interfere with the potential of a landing.

  2. Julius Henry Marx:

    Some people claim that marriage interferes with romance. There's no doubt about it. Anytime you have a romance, your wife is bound to interfere.

  3. Henri Courpron:

    I do not expect Robert Milton to interfere with the CEO, but rather use Robert Milton insight and experience to support and encourage Munoz to re-evaluate the overall post-merger strategy for the airline as it appears to be lagging its peers on several fronts.

  4. Joe Biden:

    My job as President is not... only( to) nominate highly, highly qualified individuals for that institution, but to give them the space they need to do their job. I'm not going to interfere with their critically important work.

  5. Laura Murphy:

    I don't think there's a big window, i think people are very concerned about domestic actors using the platform to interfere with our elections and to spread misinformation.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

interfere#10000#12302#100000

Translations for interfere

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"interfere." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/interfere>.

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