interrupt
/,intə'rʌpt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To stop the continuous progress of an activity or process: To cause something to cease temporarily or permanently by breaking its continuity.
- To stop a person who is speaking by saying or doing something: To break into a conversation or monologue, often considered impolite.
- To obstruct or block a view, line, or passage: To create a break in the continuity of a physical space or signal.
Usage and Examples
Verb (to stop an activity):
- A loud noise interrupted the lecture. (The noise caused the lecture to stop temporarily.)
- The power outage interrupted our work for several hours. (The outage broke the continuity of our work process.)
Verb (to stop a speaker):
- It is rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking. (It is impolite to break into someone's speech.)
- "May I interrupt for a moment?" he asked politely. (He asked for permission to break into the conversation briefly.)
Verb (to obstruct):
- A tall building interrupts the view of the mountains. (The building blocks the line of sight to the mountains.)
Advanced Usage
- In computing: A signal that causes the processor to temporarily halt its current task to handle a higher-priority event.
- The keyboard sends an interrupt signal when a key is pressed.
- "To interrupt oneself": To stop one's own speech or action.
- She interrupted herself mid-sentence to answer the phone.
Variants and Related Words
- Interruption (noun): The act of interrupting or the state of being interrupted.
- There was a brief interruption in service.
- Interruptive (adjective): Causing an interruption.
- The interruptive noise made concentration impossible.
- Uninterrupted (adjective): Continuous without interruption.
- We enjoyed hours of uninterrupted conversation.
Synonyms
- Halt: To bring to a stop.
- Disrupt: To cause disorder or interrupt a process.
- Intrude: To enter or interrupt a situation without invitation.
- Cut in: To interrupt a conversation (informal).
Related Phrasal Verbs
(Note: "Interrupt" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meaning is typically expressed by the verb alone or with a prepositional phrase like "interrupt with.") - Interrupt with: To break into speech by introducing something. - He constantly interrupted the meeting with irrelevant questions.
Related Idioms
- To interrupt the silence: To make a noise that ends a period of quiet.
- A bird's song interrupted the silence of the dawn.
- A rude interruption: An impolite act of breaking into a conversation.
- His comment was seen as a rude interruption.
Noun
- a signal that temporarily stops the execution of a program so that another procedure can be carried out
Verb
- terminate
- She interrupted her pregnancy
- break a lucky streak
- break the cycle of poverty
- interfere in someone else's activity
- Please don't interrupt me while I'm on the phone
- destroy the peace or tranquility of
- Don't interrupt me when I'm reading
- make a break in
- We interrupt the program for the following messages