Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of interrupting or breaking in upon anything.
  • noun The state of being interrupted; the state of being impeded, checked, or stopped.
  • noun Obstruction or hindrance caused by a breaking in upon any course, current, progress, or motion; stoppage: as, interruptions in the execution of a work.
  • noun Cessation; intermission; interval.
  • noun A prorogation of Parliament: used in the seventeenth century.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of interrupting, or breaking in upon.
  • noun The state of being interrupted; a breach or break, caused by the abrupt intervention of something foreign; intervention; interposition.
  • noun Obstruction caused by breaking in upon course, current, progress, or motion; stop; hindrance
  • noun Temporary cessation; intermission; suspension.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
  • noun a time interval during which there is a cessation of something

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
  • noun some abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
  • noun an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Wal, the Duke's real amiable; but I reckon you'd find what you call the interruption of an argument.

    Magic A Fantastic Comedy 1905

  • "Well, I don't know what you call interruption, but this is a complete stopper; I can't make any impression with the pick, it is as hard as rock; and then comes some of those old walls that are rather harder than granite -- you may as well pick at a cart-load of pig iron."

    Varney the vampire; or, The feast of blood. Volume 3 1847

  • The word interruption has mostly negative connotations, but there’s nothing inherently negative about breaks and ruptures.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • The word interruption has mostly negative connotations, but there’s nothing inherently negative about breaks and ruptures.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • The word interruption has mostly negative connotations, but there’s nothing inherently negative about breaks and ruptures.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • The word interruption has mostly negative connotations, but there’s nothing inherently negative about breaks and ruptures.

    The Next Ten Minutes EdD Andrew Peterson 2010

  • VFV (in a cold voice): Attention readers of EDF, your non-fiction scheduled interruption is now over.

    FOCUS • by Oonah V Joslin 2009

  • Mr. Tanner said Lockheed was "probably as positioned as well as we could be" to ride out a short-term interruption in federal payments, but would face serious cash-flow pressures if the crisis is prolonged.

    Contractors Assess Default Nathan Hodge 2011

  • Research certainly confirms that refocusing after an interruption is a time sink and a workplace problem, but you can minimise the impact of interruption with planning and interruption management.

    Plan For Interruptions To Minimise Their Impact | Lifehacker Australia 2010

  • However, as with any transition, we expect there will be a few hiccups along the way, and you may even see some short-term interruption in the availability of our eBooks, especially in the first few days, as systems are being adapted to accommodate changes.

    Amazon Strikes Two Book-Pricing Deals Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg 2010

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