INTERRUPT

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does interrupt mean? 

• INTERRUPT (noun)
  The noun INTERRUPT has 1 sense:

1. a signal that temporarily stops the execution of a program so that another procedure can be carried out

  Familiarity information: INTERRUPT used as a noun is very rare.

• INTERRUPT (verb)
  The verb INTERRUPT has 4 senses:

1. make a break in

2. destroy the peace or tranquility of

3. interfere in someone else's activity

4. terminate

  Familiarity information: INTERRUPT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTERRUPT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A signal that temporarily stops the execution of a program so that another procedure can be carried out

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("interrupt" is a kind of...):

signal (an electric quantity (voltage or current or field strength) whose modulation represents coded information about the source from which it comes)

• INTERRUPT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they interrupt    ... he / she / it interrupts   
Past simple: interrupted   
Past participle: interrupted   
-ing form: interrupting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a break in

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

break up; cut off; disrupt; interrupt

Context example:

We interrupt the program for the following messages

Hypernyms (to "interrupt" is one way to...):

break; break off; discontinue; stop (prevent completion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interrupt"):

take off; take time off (take time off from work; stop working temporarily)

stop; stop over (interrupt a trip)

block; jam (interfere with or prevent the reception of signals)

come in; inject; interject; interpose; put in; throw in (to insert between other elements)

heckle (challenge aggressively)

burst in on; burst upon (spring suddenly)

barge in; break in; butt in; chime in; chisel in; cut in; put in (break into a conversation)

break; intermit; pause (cease an action temporarily)

put aside; put away (turn away from and put aside, perhaps temporarily)

break (interrupt the flow of current in)

punctuate (interrupt periodically)

cut; cut off (cease, stop)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

interrupter (a device for automatically interrupting an electric current)

interruption (an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Destroy the peace or tranquility of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

disturb; interrupt

Context example:

Don't interrupt me when I'm reading

Hypernyms (to "interrupt" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot interrupt Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

Interfere in someone else's activity

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

disrupt; interrupt

Context example:

Please don't interrupt me while I'm on the phone

Hypernyms (to "interrupt" is one way to...):

barge in; break in; butt in; chime in; chisel in; cut in; put in (break into a conversation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interrupt"):

cut in (interrupt a dancing couple in order to take one of them as one's own partner)

cut short (cause to end earlier than intended)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

interruption (an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Terminate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break; interrupt

Context example:

break the cycle of poverty

Hypernyms (to "interrupt" is one way to...):

end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "interrupt"):

break off; break short; cut short (interrupt before its natural or planned end)

freeze; suspend (stop a process or a habit by imposing a freeze on it)

hold on; stop (stop and wait, as if awaiting further instructions or developments)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

"She was beautiful—" he began, "But she didn't give milk," Madge interrupted. "But she was beautiful, now, wasn't she?" he insisted.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt you.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“But suppose he desires to do two opposite things, neither of which will permit him to do the other?” Maud interrupted.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The nobleman’s reply was interrupted by his secretary, who broke in with some heat.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Why do you always look at things with such dreadfully practical eyes?" she interrupted.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Now, Mr. Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A sharp ring interrupted her, and a minute after Hannah came in with a letter.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said: Then you're thinkin' as it was—A long wailing cry, fiercely sad, from somewhere in the darkness, had interrupted him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Meantime we can only renew our interrupted slumbers.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I never heard her name,” said I. “I didn't mean to interrupt you.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)