English

Verb

disrupt ‎(third-person singular simple present disrupts, present participle disrupting, simple past and past participle disrupted)

1. (transitive) To throw into confusion or disorder.

   Hecklers disrupted the man's speech.‎

2. (transitive) To interrupt or impede.
   • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children’s brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

     Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.  ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

   Work on the tunnel was disrupted by a strike.‎

3. (transitive) To improve a product or service in ways that displace an established one and surprise the market.

   The internet makes it easier for leaner businesses to disrupt the larger and more unwieldy ones.‎

Related terms

• disruptable, disruptible
• disruption
• disruptive

Translations

Adjective

disrupt ‎(comparative more disrupt, superlative most disrupt)

1. (obsolete) Torn off or torn asunder; severed; disrupted.