molest

From Middle English molesten, from Old French molester, from Latin molestō (“to trouble, annoy, molest”), from molestus (“troublesome”), from moles (“a burden, difficulty, labor, trouble”); see mole.

• IPA^(key): /məˈlɛst/

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• Rhymes: -ɛst

molest (third-person singular simple present molests, present participle molesting, simple past and past participle molested)

1. To annoy intentionally.
2. To disturb or tamper with.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):

     They have molested the church with needless opposition.

   • 2020, Chief Executive in Council, “Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation”, in Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette‎, page B555:

     A person must not delay, obstruct, hinder or molest an authorized officer who is performing a function under this Regulation.

3. To sexually assault or sexually harass.

• molest in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• molest in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

• Motles, motels

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch molest.

molest

1. (law) damage from war.

• “molest” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.