Meanings
plural interruptions
- countableuncountableThe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted.
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing"[…]and so on.
2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 271 more example
One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA time interval during which there is a cessation of something.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsome abrupt occurrence that interrupts an ongoing activity
nouna time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininterruptio
- Old Frenchinterrupcion
- Middle Englishinterrupcioun
- Englishinterruption
From Middle English interrupcioun, from Old French interrupcion, from Latin interruptio.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek διακοπή
- διακοπή (diakopḗ)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Arabic مُقَاطَعَة
- مُقَاطَعَة (muqāṭaʕa)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Bulgarian спиране, прекъсване
- спиране (spirane)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- прекъсване (prekăsvane)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- прекъсване (prekăsvane)a time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Chinese Mandarin 中斷 /中断
- 中斷 /中断 (zhōngduàn)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Dutch onderbreking, onderbreking
- onderbrekingthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- onderbrekinga time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Esperanto interrompo
- interrompothe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Finnish keskeytys
- keskeytysthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
French interruption, interruption
- interruptionthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- interruptiona time interval during which there is a cessation of something
German Unterbrechung, Unterbrechung
- Unterbrechungthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- Unterbrechunga time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Greek διακοπή
- διακοπή (diakopí)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Hungarian megszakítás, félbeszakítás
- megszakításthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- félbeszakításthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- közbeszólásthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- közbevágásthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- szüneta time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- szünetelésa time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- kihagyása time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- kimaradása time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- megszakítása time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- megszakadása time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Italian interruzione, interruzione
- interruzionethe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- interruzionea time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Japanese 中断, 邪魔
- 中断 (chūdan)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- 邪魔 (jama)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- 中断 (chūdan)a time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Māori pōrearea
- pōreareathe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Polish przerwa
- przerwaa time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Portuguese interrupção, interrupção
- interrupçãothe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- interrupçãoa time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Romanian întrerupere, întrerupere
- întreruperethe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- întreruperea time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Russian прерыва́ние, поме́ха
- прерыва́ние (preryvánije)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- поме́ха (poméxa)the act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- переры́в (pererýv)a time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Scottish Gaelic casg, eadar-chur
- casgthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- eadar-churthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Spanish interrupción, paréntesis
- interrupciónthe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
- paréntesisa time interval during which there is a cessation of something
- interrupcióna time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Swedish avbrott
- avbrotta time interval during which there is a cessation of something
Turkish sekte
- sektethe act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with interruption
Cite this entry
interruption. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interruption
“interruption.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interruption. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interruption,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interruption.
Source: interruption on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.