disturbverb [ T ]
uk/dɪˈstɜːb/us/dɪˈstɝːb/disturb verb [ T ] (INTERRUPT)
B2 to interrupt what someone is doing:
Please don't disturb your sister - she's trying to do her homework.
I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but my car's broken down and I don't have my phone with me.
disturb the peace
to break the law by behaving unpleasantly and noisily in public:
Several fans were arrested and charged with disturbing the peace after the game.
More examples
- "Don't disturb me again, " she said in an irritable voice.
- She's under strong sedation and should not be disturbed.
- I'm very tired, what with travelling all day yesterday and having a disturbed night.
- She started to photograph the documents, safe in the knowledge that she wouldn't be disturbed for at least an hour.
- Please go on with what you're doing and don't let us disturb you.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Cancelling and interrupting
- adjourn
- adjourn to somewhere
- arrest
- break
- call
- call sth off
- cancel
- cancellation
- cut
- halt
- in midstream idiom
- interrupt
- kick
- kick sth into touch idiom
- midstream
- mothball
- nullify
- shut
- shut (sth) off
- stop
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Social order & disorder
Noise & noisy
disturb verb [ T ] (WORRY)
C2 to cause someone to be worried or upset:
Some scenes are violent and may disturb younger viewers.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Causing anxiety and worry
- alarming
- bite
- catch up with sb
- come back to bite sb idiom
- come back/home to roost idiom
- flap
- frighten sb/sth away/off
- get/go beyond a joke idiom
- give sb the jitters idiom
- gnaw
- harass
- joke
- suspenseful
- sweat
- tense
- troubling
- unnerve
- unsettling
- weigh
- weigh on sb/sth
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disturb verb [ T ] (MOVE)
to move or change something from its usual position, arrangement, condition, or shape:
The thief had disturbed the documents in her filing cabinet, but nothing had been taken.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Changing
- a new broom sweeps clean idiom
- about-turn
- alter
- alternate
- alternation
- bastardize
- convert
- move on
- move the goalposts idiom
- move with the times idiom
- new
- new broom
- onto
- reverse
- swing
- transfigure
- transform
- transitional
- transmogrify
- transmute
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