interrupt
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to cause or make a break in the continuity or uniformity of (a course, process, condition, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- intermit
- Antonyms:
- continue
-
to break off or cause to cease, as in the middle of something.
He interrupted his work to answer the bell.
- Antonyms:
- continue
-
to stop (a person) in the midst of doing or saying something, especially by an interjected remark.
May I interrupt you to comment on your last remark?
- Synonyms:
- intermit
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to break the continuity of (an action, event, etc) or hinder (a person) by intrusion
-
(tr) to cease to perform (some action)
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(tr) to obstruct (a view)
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to prevent or disturb (a conversation, discussion, etc) by questions, interjections, or comment
noun
Synonym Usage
Interrupt, discontinue, suspend imply breaking off something temporarily or permanently. Interrupt may have either meaning: to interrupt a meeting. To discontinue is to stop or leave off, often permanently: to discontinue a building program. To suspend is to break off relations, operations, proceedings, privileges, etc., for a certain period of time, usually with the stipulation that they will be resumed at a stated time: to suspend operations during a strike.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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interruptednessnoun
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reinterruptverb
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interruptibleadjective
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interruptiveadjective
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noninterruptibleadjective
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noninterruptiveadjective
-
self-interruptingadjective
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uninterruptibleadjective
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uninterruptingadjective
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uninterruptiveadjective
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interruptedlyadverb
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interruptivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interruptsimple
-
interruptssimple
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have interruptedperfect
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has interruptedperfect
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am interruptingprogressive
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are interruptingprogressive
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is interruptingprogressive
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have been interruptingperfect progressive
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has been interruptingperfect progressive
Past
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interruptedsimple
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had interruptedperfect
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was interruptingprogressive
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were interruptingprogressive
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had been interruptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interrupt
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English interrupten, from Latin interruptus, past participle of interrumpere “to break apart,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + rup-, variant stem of rumpere “to burst” + -tus past participle suffix; see inter-, rupture
Explanation
To interrupt someone is to interfere in their activity, disrupt their conversation, or to disturb their peace and quiet. Imagine you're watching reruns of Jeopardy! and your mom interrupts you, threatening to turn off the TV unless you take the trash out. Then your brother interrupts your peace and quiet by shouting answers — wrong answers — at the TV. A special weather bulletin then interrupts your "regularly scheduled program" with a severe thunderstorm warning. And, to complete the job, lightning causes an interrupt (now used as a noun) in the power grid and your electricity goes off.
Vocabulary lists containing interrupt
Make a Break for It: Rupt
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"Raymond's Run"
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Lesson 1
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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.
See Examples For:
The disruption can interrupt care and leave people saddled with medical bills they cannot afford.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
“We know Ebola’s transmission routes, so we are also in a good position to interrupt its spread, without a lot of trouble,” said Dr. Diane Atwine, a top Ugandan health official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
The higher the number, the less a team has been able to interrupt opposition spells of play.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
To interrupt this cycle, the researchers designed and tested several experimental compounds in cell cultures and mice.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
“I can’t interrupt the song of the loom,” she said.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Fewer fires, it said, "interrupts a sequence of years of fire expansion and returns the country to a historically lower level of burned area."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Millions of people worldwide live with obstructive sleep apnea, a common disorder that repeatedly interrupts breathing during sleep.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 9, 2026
“In reality, life interrupts the timeline all the time,” said Melissa Caro, founder of My Retirement Network.
From MarketWatch ● May 14, 2026
Every couple of minutes a recording in Farsi interrupts, saying: "This call is from Evin prison and the caller is a prisoner."
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
Mr. Ram interrupts my reverie, a shaking hand holding a page taut.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
After being interrupted by protesters, Hegseth went on to say his funding request came at an urgent time.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The errant pooch then interrupted the proceedings again, with Joyce saying: "I do apologise for this dog, it's just started to bail up."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
In April 2025, at a conference in Berkeley, he interrupted a presentation by Yoshua Bengio, a prominent academic working to make AI more compatible with human values.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
No. During that period in 2016 when we were at the Republican National Convention, they were livestreaming on the street, and I interrupted their livestream.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
The quiet was interrupted by sounds from above.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
But they did not want the court itself interrupting or striking down Congress’ legislation.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
The other parents kept interrupting, so eventually I gave up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Its government created the fiscal space necessary to cope with disaster, mobilize financing, and rebuild, without missing a beat on its debt service or interrupting the remarkable compression in its cost of borrowing.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Multiple times throughout the session, one caregiver unwittingly demonstrated this dynamic when his wife kept interrupting the conversation off-screen to say she was going to church even though it was a Saturday afternoon.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
“What are you doing on my stage? You’re interrupting my rehearsal.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
