disturbance

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act of disturbing.
2. n. The condition of being disturbed: "The forest . . . is in various stages of disturbance. Only the biggest trees . . . have been left standing” ( Alex Shoumatoff).
3. n. Something that disturbs, as a commotion, scuffle, or public tumult.
4. n. Mental or emotional unbalance or disorder.
5. n. A variation in normal wind conditions.
6. n. Geology Folding or faulting that affects a relatively large area.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Interruption of arrangement or order; violent change; derangement: as, a disturbance of the electric current.
2. n. An interruption of thought or conversation; as, to read without disturbance.
3. n. A violent interruption of the peace; a violent stir or excitement tending to or manifested in a breach of the peace; a tumult; an uproar; in a more extended sense, public disorder; agitation in the body politic.
4. n. Emotion or disorder of the mind; agitation; perturbation; confusion: as, the merchant received the news of his losses without apparent disturbance.
5. n. In law, the wrongful obstruction of the owner of an incorporeal hereditament in its exercise or enjoyment: as, the disturbance of a franchise, of common, of ways, or of tenure.
6. n. In astronomy, same as perturbation; the deviation of a body from the elliptical orbit it would otherwise pursue, caused by the attraction of bodies other than the primary.

Wiktionary

1. n. The act of disturbing, being disturbed
2. n. Something that disturbs
3. n. An interruption of that which is normal or regular.
4. n. A serious mental imbalance or illness.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An interruption of a state of peace or quiet; derangement of the regular course of things; disquiet; disorder.
2. n. Confusion of the mind; agitation of the feelings; perplexity; uneasiness.
3. n. Violent agitation in the body politic; public commotion; tumult.
4. n. The hindering or disquieting of a person in the lawful and peaceable enjoyment of his right; the interruption of a right.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. (psychiatry) a psychological disorder of thought or emotion; a more neutral term than mental illness
2. n. activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption
3. n. a disorderly outburst or tumult
4. n. the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion
5. n. an unhappy and worried mental state
6. n. a noisy fight
7. n. electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication