derange

present singular third person deranges · participle present deranging · participle past deranged · past deranged

1. transitivechiefly passive voiceTo cause (someone) to go insane or become deranged.
2. transitiveTo cause disorder in (something); to distort from its ideal state.

   Both these kinds of monopolies derange more or less the natural distribution of the stock of the society;

   1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

3. transitiveTo cause to malfunction or become inoperative.

   1 more example

   4-16. All lighting was cut off by a close detonation but was partially restored after a short while. Many auxiliary motors were short-circuited or deranged. There were at least nineteen cracked jars in the forward battery and one in the after battery, causing loss of electrolyte and full grounds. All of the electric alarm and telephone circuits were out of commission.

   1949 January 1, Bureau of Ships, “U.S.S. PERCH (SS176), Loss in Action, Java Sea, 3 March 1942”, in Submarine Report: Depth Charge, Bomb, Mine, Torpedo and Gunfire Damage, Including Losses in Action, 7 December 1941 to 15 August 1945, volume 1, United States Hydrographic Office, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2022, page 21

4. archaicTo disrupt (somebody's) plans, to inconvenience; to derail.

   "By no means, Sir," answered the Captain: "I shall be quite au désespoir if I derange any body."

   1782, Fanny Burney, Cecilia, Memoirs of an Heiress

   1 more example

   A second special was out of the question, as the ordinary local service was already somewhat deranged by the first.

   1898, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost Special