interrupt

Plural: interrupts

Noun

• a signal that temporarily stops the execution of a program so that another procedure can be carried out
• An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.

Verb

• make a break in
  • "We interrupt the program for the following messages"
• destroy the peace or tranquility of
  • "Don't interrupt me when I'm reading"
• interfere in someone else's activity
  • "Please don't interrupt me while I'm on the phone"
• terminate
  • "She interrupted her pregnancy"
• To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.
• To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.
• To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.

Examples

• A maverick politician repeatedly interrupted the debate by shouting.
• The evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.
• The interrupt caused the packet handler routine to run.
• The packet receiver circuit interrupted the microprocessor.

Synonyms

break, break up, cut off, disrupt, disturb, interject

Antonyms

continue, resume

Related Words

abrupt, corrupt, disrupt