interrupt
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ qual verb
  • IPA: /ˈɪntəˌɹʌpt/ qual noun
Verb

interrupt (interrupts, present participle interrupting; past and past participle interrupted)

  1. (ambitransitive) To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly.
    • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:
      Do not interrupt me in my course.
    A maverick politician repeatedly interrupted the debate by shouting.
  2. (transitive) To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.
    The evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.
  3. (transitive, computing) To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.
    The packet receiver circuit interrupted the microprocessor.
Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Noun

interrupt (plural interrupts)

  1. (computing, electronics) 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.
Translations


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