disturbance

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dis·tur·bance

(dĭ-stûr′bəns)

a. The act of disturbing: a disturbance of lake sediments.

b. The condition of being disturbed: "The forest ... is in various stages of disturbance. Only the biggest trees ... have been left standing" (Alex Shoumatoff).

2. Something that disturbs, as a commotion, scuffle, or public tumult.

3. Mental or emotional unbalance or disorder.

4. A variation in normal wind conditions.

5. Geology Folding or faulting that affects a relatively large area.

6. Physics An alteration or displacement of a region of a medium from its equilibrium state.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

disturbance

(dɪˈstɜːbəns)

1. the act of disturbing or the state of being disturbed

2. an interruption or intrusion

3. an unruly outburst or tumult

4. (Law) law an interference with another's rights

5. (Geological Science) geology

a. a minor movement of the earth causing a small earthquake

b. a minor mountain-building event

6. (Physical Geography) meteorol a small depression

7. (Psychiatry) psychiatry a mental or emotional disorder

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

dis•turb•ance

(dɪˈstɜr bəns)

n.

1. the act of disturbing.

2. the state of being disturbed.

3. an instance of this; commotion.

4. something that disturbs.

5. an outbreak of disorder.

6. any cyclonic storm or low-pressure area, usu. a small one.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	disturbance - activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption; "the term `distress' connotes some degree of perturbation and emotional upset"; "he looked around for the source of the disturbance"; "there was a disturbance of neural function" perturbation activity - any specific behavior; "they avoided all recreational activity" bother, hassle, trouble, fuss - an angry disturbance; "he didn't want to make a fuss"; "they had labor trouble"; "a spot of bother" magnetic storm - a sudden disturbance of the earth's magnetic field; caused by emission of particles from the sun
	2.	disturbance - an unhappy and worried mental state; "there was too much anger and disturbance"; "she didn't realize the upset she caused me" perturbation, upset agitation - a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance
	3.	disturbance - a disorderly outburst or tumult; "they were amazed by the furious disturbance they had caused" hoo-ha, hoo-hah, hurly burly, kerfuffle, to-do, commotion, disruption, flutter disorder - a disturbance of the peace or of public order turmoil, upheaval, convulsion - a violent disturbance; "the convulsions of the stock market" earthquake - a disturbance that is extremely disruptive; "selling the company caused an earthquake among the employees" incident - a public disturbance; "the police investigated an incident at the bus station" stir, splash - a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event; "he made a great splash and then disappeared" tempest, storm - a violent commotion or disturbance; "the storms that had characterized their relationship had died away"; "it was only a tempest in a teapot" storm center, storm centre - a center of trouble or disturbance garboil, tumult, tumultuousness, uproar - a state of commotion and noise and confusion
	4.	disturbance - a noisy fight fray, affray, ruffle fighting, combat, fight, scrap - the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; "a fight broke out at the hockey game"; "there was fighting in the streets"; "the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap"
	5.	disturbance - the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion movement, motility, motion, move - a change of position that does not entail a change of location; "the reflex motion of his eyebrows revealed his surprise"; "movement is a sign of life"; "an impatient move of his hand"; "gastrointestinal motility" carnival, circus - a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment; "it was so funny it was a circus"; "the whole occasion had a carnival atmosphere" disorganisation, disorganization - the disturbance of a systematic arrangement causing disorder and confusion; "the disorganization of the enemy troops by a flank attack" disruption, perturbation - the act of causing disorder ruckus, ruction, rumpus, commotion, din, tumult - the act of making a noisy disturbance furor, furore - a sudden outburst (as of protest) havoc, mayhem - violent and needless disturbance battle royal, melee, scrimmage - a noisy riotous fight hullabaloo, turmoil, upheaval, agitation, excitement - disturbance usually in protest tumultuous disturbance, outburst - a sudden violent disturbance rampage, violent disorder - violently angry and destructive behavior derangement, overthrow, upset - the act of disturbing the mind or body; "his carelessness could have caused an ecological upset"; "she was unprepared for this sudden overthrow of their normal way of living"
	6.	disturbance - (psychiatry) a psychological disorder of thought or emotion; a more neutral term than mental illness folie, mental disorder, mental disturbance, psychological disorder psychiatry, psychological medicine, psychopathology - the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders disorder, upset - a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning; "the doctor prescribed some medicine for the disorder"; "everyone gets stomach upsets from time to time" Asperger's syndrome - a psychiatric disorder usually noted during early school years; characterized by impaired social relations and by repetitive patterns of behavior anxiety disorder - a cover term for a variety of mental disorders in which severe anxiety is a salient symptom psychosomatic disorder - a mental disorder that causes somatic symptoms aberration - a disorder in one's mental state conversion disorder, conversion hysteria, conversion reaction - a mental disorder characterized by the conversion of mental conflict into somatic forms (into paralysis or anesthesia having no apparent cause) delirium - a usually brief state of excitement and mental confusion often accompanied by hallucinations delusional disorder - any mental disorder in which delusions play a significant role encopresis - involuntary defecation not attributable to physical defects or illness folie a deux - the simultaneous occurrence of symptoms of a mental disorder (as delusions) in two persons who are closely related (as siblings or man and wife) personality disorder - inflexible and maladaptive patterns of behavior affective disorder, emotional disorder, emotional disturbance, major affective disorder - any mental disorder not caused by detectable organic abnormalities of the brain and in which a major disturbance of emotions is predominant schizothymia - resembling schizophrenia but remaining within the bounds of normality neurosis, neuroticism, psychoneurosis - a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction dissociative disorder - dissociation so severe that the usually integrated functions of consciousness and perception of self break down
	7.	disturbance - electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication interference, noise clutter - unwanted echoes that interfere with the observation of signals on a radar screen trouble - an event causing distress or pain; "what is the trouble?"; "heart trouble" background signal, background - extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals" crosstalk, XT - the presence of an unwanted signal via an accidental coupling fadeout - a gradual temporary loss of a transmitted signal due to electrical disturbances jitter - small rapid variations in a waveform resulting from fluctuations in the voltage supply or mechanical vibrations or other sources atmospheric static, atmospherics, static - a crackling or hissing noise caused by electrical interference white noise - a noise produced by a stimulus containing all of the audible frequencies of vibration; "white noise is a good masking agent"

disturbance

noun

1. disorder, bother (informal), turmoil, riot, upheaval, fray, brawl, uproar, agitation, fracas, commotion, rumpus, tumult, hubbub, shindig (informal), ruction (informal), ruckus (informal), shindy (informal) During the disturbance, three men were hurt.

2. upset, bother, disorder, confusion, distraction, intrusion, interruption, annoyance, agitation, hindrance, perturbation, derangement The home would cause less disturbance than a school.

3. disorder, upset, problem, trouble Poor educational performance is linked to emotional disturbances.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

disturbance

noun

1. An interruption of regular procedure or of public peace:

agitation, commotion, disorder, helter-skelter, stir, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, uproar.

Informal: flap, to-do.

2. A change in normal place or position:

dislocation, displacement, move, movement, rearrangement, shift.

3. Serious mental illness or disorder impairing a person's capacity to function normally and safely:

brainsickness, craziness, dementia, derangement, insaneness, insanity, lunacy, madness, mental illness, psychopathy, unbalance.

Psychiatry: mania.

Psychology: aberration, alienation.

Translations

إثارَة الإضْطِراباتإزْعاج ، تَشْويشإضْطِراب

porušovánípovykvyrušenívýtržnost

afbrydelseforstyrre almindelig ro og ordenforstyrrelseuro

Störung Unruhe

ενόχληση ταραχή

alboroto disturbio interrupción alteración bronca

dérangement perturbation tapage trouble

rendzavarászavarászavaró körülmény

óspektirtrufluntruflun; óspektir

disturbo tormento agitazione disordine

opptøyer

vyrušenievýtržnosť

kršitev mirurazgrajanje

düzeni bozmaengellemegürültü kargaşa karışıklık

干扰扰乱骚乱

disturbance

[dɪsˈtɜːbəns] N

1. (= act, state) → perturbación f
disturbance of the peace (Jur) → alteración f del orden público

2. (social, political) → disturbio m; (in house, street) → alboroto m; [of mind] → trastorno m; (= fight) → altercado m, bronca f (LAm)
to cause a disturbance → armar alboroto
there was a disturbance in the crowd → hubo un altercado entre algunos de los espectadores
the disturbances in the north → los disturbios en el norte

3. (= nuisance) → molestia f

4. (= interruption) → interrupción f (to de)

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

disturbance

[dɪˈstɜː^rbəns] n

(political, social) → troubles mpl

(in house, street) → tapage m
to cause a disturbance → troubler l'ordre public disturbance of the peace

(= interruption, inconvenience) [person] → dérangement m

(emotional, psychological) → trouble m
sleep disturbance → troubles mpl du sommeildisturbance of the peace n (LAW) → atteinte f à l'ordre public

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

disturbance

(political, social) → Unruhe f; (in house, street) → (Ruhe)störung f; to cause or create a disturbance → Unruhe or eine Ruhestörung verursachen; disturbance of the peace → Störung f → des Friedens

(= interruption: in work, routine) → Störung f

no pl (= disarranging, of papers) → Durcheinanderbringen nt; (of liquid) → Bewegung f; (fig, of peace of mind) → Störung f; emotional disturbance → seelische Störung

no pl (= alarm, uneasiness) → Unruhe f; I don’t want to cause any disturbance but … → ich will Sie ja nicht beunruhigen, aber …

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

disturbance

[dɪsˈtɜːb/əns] n

a. (uneasiness, upset) → turbamento; (interruption) → interruzione f

b. (social, political) → disordini mpl, tumulto; (affray) → tafferuglio

disturb

(diˈstəːb) verb

1. to interrupt or take attention away from. I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?

2. to worry or make anxious. This news has disturbed me very much.

3. to stir up or throw into confusion. A violent storm disturbed the surface of the lake.

diˈsturbance noun

1. a noisy or disorderly happening. He was thrown out of the meeting for causing a disturbance.

2. an interruption. I've done quite a lot of work, despite several disturbances.

3. an act of disturbing. He was arrested for disturbance of the peace.

dis·tur·bance

n. confusión, disturbio.

disturbance

n trastorno, alteración f

References in classic literature ?

If the new period of disturbance were first to commence by some great earthquake in the dead of the night, how terrific would be the carnage!

View in context

The ringing impact of trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled with their shouts of "Men from Mars!" Excited men came into the station about nine o'clock with incredible tidings, and caused no more disturbance than drunkards might have done.

View in context

"I was about to speak further, when I observed the wild oats near the place of the disturbance moving in the most inexplicable way.

View in context

In order to secure the grave against secret disturbance, it was sown with thistles.

View in context

What influence honours have, and how they may occasion sedition, is evident enough; for those who are themselves unhonoured while they see others honoured, will be ready for any disturbance: and these things are done unjustly when any one is either honoured or discarded contrary to their deserts, justly when they are according to them.

View in context

"My good fellow, your head is out of sorts," replied the voice; "but that is no reason why you should make such a terrible disturbance. Be quiet;

View in context

And as a fact, in such cases the emotional disturbance set up in Alexey Alexandrovitch by the sight of tears found expression in hasty anger.

View in context

The result was that when, late in the night, he locked himself in his room his brain was full of odd fancies; he was on the high road to mental disturbance. He lay down on his bed in the dark, still brooding over the mystery of the closed trunk.

View in context

Margaret had often wondered at the disturbance that takes place in the world's waters, when Love, who seems so tiny a pebble, slips in.

View in context

The closure of the eye and the lachrymation are quite involuntary, and so is the disturbance of the heart.

View in context

The exclamations, the insults addressed to Benedetto, who remained perfectly unconcerned, the energetic gestures, the movement of the gendarmes, the sneers of the scum of the crowd always sure to rise to the surface in case of any disturbance -- all this lasted five minutes, before the door-keepers and magistrates were able to restore silence.

View in context

Two others, rather than take part in this disturbance, buried their hands in their pockets; and another two jumped upon the table they occupied, as people do to avoid being submerged by overflowing water.