tr.v., -rupt·ed, -rupt·ing, -rupts.
- To throw into confusion or disorder: Protesters disrupted the candidate's speech.
- To interrupt or impede the progress, movement, or procedure of: Our efforts in the garden were disrupted by an early frost.
- To break or burst; rupture.
[Latin disrumpere, disrupt-, to break apart : dis-, dis- + rumpere, to break apart.]
disrupter dis·rupt'er or dis·rup'tor n.disruption dis·rup'tion n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
