disconnect
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to sever or terminate a connection, as of a telephone; hang up.
State your business and disconnect.
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to withdraw into one's private world.
When social pressures become too great, she simply disconnects.
noun
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an act or instance of disconnecting, especially the suspension of telephone or cable TV service for nonpayment of service charges.
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a lack of communication or agreement.
There is a huge disconnect between management and employees.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has disconnectedperfect 3rd person singular
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have disconnectedperfect
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have been disconnectingperfect progressive
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am disconnectingprogressive 1st person singular
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is disconnectingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are disconnectingprogressive
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has been disconnectingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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disconnectingparticiple
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disconnectssingular 3rd person
Past
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had disconnectedperfect
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disconnectedsimple
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had been disconnectingperfect progressive
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disconnectedparticiple
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was disconnectingprogressive singular
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were disconnectingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of disconnect
Explanation
When you disconnect something, you detach or separate it from something else. If you work plowing driveways during the winter, you need to disconnect the plow from your truck in the spring. You can disconnect toy train cars, and you can also disconnect your laptop from its charger. In fact, unplugging electrical appliances is another way to disconnect something. Disconnect also means a lack of understanding or connection. So there might be a disconnect between you and your brother, or between what a politician promises to do and what she actually does. Disconnect combines dis-, "the opposite of" with connect, from the Latin conectere, "join together."
Vocabulary lists containing disconnect
Vocabulary from the Poem “Touchscreen” by Marshall Davis Jones
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Flying Lessons & Other Stories
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Mexican WhiteBoy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Doyle explained the disconnect by noting that employers are taking more time to make hiring decisions.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026
To keep calm during exams, the fourth year students recommended getting outside, surrounding yourself with friends, escaping campus to disconnect for a while and staying active.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
The Stanford team found that aging-related disruptions in protein synthesis, particularly involving ribosomes, can explain why this disconnect occurs.
From Science Daily • May 29, 2026
Barbera points to three things that might explain today’s disconnect, none of which is entirely exclusive of one another.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
When I mentioned the disconnect to Farmer, he looked up and said in a chirpy-sounding voice that I was wrong.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
