verb
molest
To bother or interfere with someone.
The guards let travelers pass and do not molest them.
Etymology
The Latin verb means to trouble or annoy. This broad interference sense preserves the older meaning, alongside the more specific abusive sense now common in English.
More examples
- The order forbids soldiers from molesting civilians or taking their property.
- The protesters hold signs but do not molest passing drivers.
- No one molests the vendors as they set up their stalls.
Forms
molest · molests · molested · molesting