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molest

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To bother, disturb, annoy, or harass; in older poetry, typically refers to disrupting peace or troubling a mind rather than physical assault.

Detailed Definition
This older verb means to bother or vex someone, not the modern legal sense most readers know first. In the poem it describes fears that should not disturb the dying person.
Example
Example in poetry:
To molest means to trouble, disturb, or harass, often in older poetry without its dominant modern legal sense; “Let no vain fears thy parting hour molest” means let fears not disturb you; The barking dogs molested the silence of the lane; Modern readers should note the word’s changed connotations before interpreting older lines
Additional Notes
The verb in “thy parting hour molest” is an older literary use meaning ‘disturb,’ which many modern readers may not know.; Found in the poem, To the Poor by Anna Lætitia Barbauld
Also Known As
violate assault infringe transgress
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