interrupt

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to terminate

   The medicine interrupted my pregnancy.

2. 2
   verb

   destroy the peace or tranquility of

   Don't interrupt me when I'm reading

3. 3
   verb

   interfere in someone else's activity

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

4. 4
   verb

   make a break in

   We interrupt the program for the following messages

5. 5
   verb

   To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.

   A maverick politician repeatedly interrupted the debate by shouting.

6. 6
   verb

   To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.

   The evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.

7. 7
   verb

   To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.

   The packet receiver circuit interrupted the microprocessor.

8. 8
   noun

   An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.

   The interrupt caused the packet handler routine to run.

Etymology

From Middle English interrupten, derived from Latin interruptus, past participle of interrumpere (“to break apart/off, interrupt”), from inter (“between”) + rumpere (“to break”).