verb (past and past participlein·ter·rupt·ed, present participlein·ter·rupt·ing, 3rd person present singularin·ter·rupts)
Definition:
1. transitive and intransitive verb halt speaker or speaker's utterance: to halt the flow of a speaker or of a speaker's utterance with a question or remark
2. transitive and intransitive verb disturb somebody or somebody's work: to disturb somebody who is busy doing something, causing him or her to stop
3. transitive verb cause something to stop: to cause a break in the flow of something or put a temporary stop to something
4. transitive verb take a break from something: to discontinue doing something temporarily
5. transitive verb obstruct view: to block a view
noun (pluralin·ter·rupts)
Definition:
1. signal to suspend operation: a signal to a computer processor to suspend the currently running operation while it either performs the instruction specified by the signal or saves it in a queue to perform later
2. circuit sending signal interrupting computer process: the circuit that conveys a signal to suspend a computer operation
[14th century. < Latin interrupt-, past participle of interrumpere "break apart" < rumpere "to break"]
