Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of disturbing.
  • noun The condition of being disturbed.
  • noun Something that disturbs, as a commotion, scuffle, or public tumult.
  • noun Mental or emotional unbalance or disorder.
  • noun A variation in normal wind conditions.
  • noun Geology Folding or faulting that affects a relatively large area.
  • noun Physics An alteration or displacement of a region of a medium from its equilibrium state.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Interruption of arrangement or order; violent change; derangement: as, a disturbance of the electric current.
  • noun An interruption of thought or conversation; as, to read without disturbance.
  • noun 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.
  • noun Emotion or disorder of the mind; agitation; perturbation; confusion: as, the merchant received the news of his losses without apparent disturbance.
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.

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

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

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

  • noun The act of disturbing, being disturbed
  • noun Something that disturbs
  • noun An interruption of that which is normal or regular.
  • noun psychology A serious mental imbalance or illness.

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

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

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English

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Examples

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  • disTuRbANCE

    May 13, 2008