molest

molest
molestation /moh'le stay"sheuhn, mol'e-/, n.molester, n.molestful, adj.
/meuh lest"/, v.t.
1. to bother, interfere with, or annoy.
2. to make indecent sexual advances to.
3. to assault sexually.
[1325-75; ME molesten < L molestare to irk, deriv. of molestus irksome; cf. moles mass, burden, trouble]
Syn. 1. harass, harry, trouble, plague, hector, torment. See attack.

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  • molest — mo·lest /mə lest/ vt 1: to annoy, disturb, or persecute esp. with hostile intent or injurious effect 2: to make annoying sexual advances to; specif: to force physical and usu. sexual contact on (as a child) mo·les·ta·tion /ˌmō ˌles tā shən, ˌmä …   Law dictionary

  • molest — [v1] physically abuse accost, assail, attack, disorganize, displace, disturb, encroach, fondle, harm, hinder, hurt, illtreat, injure, interfere, intrude, maltreat, meddle, misuse, rape; concepts 246,375 Ant. be careful, guard, protect molest [v2] …   New thesaurus

  • molest — [mə lest′, mōlest′] vt. [ME molesten < OFr molester < L molestare < molestus, troublesome < moles, a burden: see MOLE3] 1. to annoy, interfere with, or meddle with so as to trouble or harm, or with intent to trouble or harm ☆ 2. to… …   English World dictionary

  • Molest — Mo*lest , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Molested}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Molesting}.] [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d {Mole}.] To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Molest — Mo*lest , n. Molestation. [Obs.] Chaucer. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • molest — (v.) late 14c., to cause trouble, grief, or vexation, from O.Fr. molester to torment, trouble, bother (12c.) and directly from L. molestare to disturb, trouble, annoy, from molestus troublesome, annoying, unmanageable, perhaps related to moles… …   Etymology dictionary

  • molest — ► VERB 1) pester or harass in a hostile way. 2) assault or abuse sexually. DERIVATIVES molestation noun molester noun. ORIGIN Latin molestare annoy , from molestus troublesome …   English terms dictionary

  • molest — UK [məˈlest] / US verb [transitive] Word forms molest : present tense I/you/we/they molest he/she/it molests present participle molesting past tense molested past participle molested 1) to hurt someone, especially a child, by touching them in a… …   English dictionary

  • molest — verb Molest is used with these nouns as the object: ↑child …   Collocations dictionary

  • molest — mo|lest [məˈlest] v [T] [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: molester, from Latin molestare, from molestus heavy, annoying , from moles mass ] 1.) to attack or harm someone, especially a child, by touching them in a sexual way or by trying to… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • molest —    to assault sexually    Originally, to inconvenience, but so pervasive is the euphemism that a female may be reported as having been brutally assaulted but not molested, unless the assailant s motives were sexual as well as predatory:     I… …   How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

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