disruption

noun

dis·​rup·​tion dis-ˈrəp-shən 

plural disruptions

: the act or process of disrupting something : a break or interruption in the normal course or continuation of some activity, process, etc.

disruption of sleep

disruptions in service

a process that has continued without disruption

Throughout the history of medicine, health has been seen as a condition of equilibrium and illness as the disruption of a balanced state.

—David Mechanic

By 1925 most countries had recovered from the economic disruptions caused by the Great War of 1914-18.

—John A. Garraty

Synonyms

• derangement
• dislocation
• disturbance
• upset

Examples of disruption in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The serum delivers multiple active ingredients to the skin without causing any sort of irritation or disruption. —Danielle Cohen, Glamour, 10 Apr. 2024

Meanwhile, reports of widespread slowdowns in mail and package delivery by the U.S. Postal Service have raised concerns within Congress about what impact the disruptions could have on mail-in ballots this fall. —Josh Feldman, NBC News, 7 Apr. 2024

This means people in those areas may experience standard disruptions to service. —John Towfighi, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024

Israel has also suffered widespread GPS disruptions on applications, with some users shown to be in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which Israeli outlet Haaretz reported as deliberate attempts to confuse Israeli drone threats. —Peter Aitken, Fox News, 5 Apr. 2024

Con Edison said there are no reports of outages, and the MTA said there was no service disruption to New York City's subway system. —Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2024

Rebuilding the bridge, repairing the cargo ship that hit it and compensating companies for the disruption at one of the nation’s busiest ports may take years to resolve. —Peter Eavis, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Despite the disruption, it’s proven to work and made racing safer. —John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Airports in Boston, New York and New Jersey reported the most disruptions, with nearly 100 cancellations and 150 delays, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. —Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1622, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

disruption

noun

dis·​rup·​tion dis-ˈrəp-shən 

: the act or process of breaking apart or rupturing

bandaged her leg tightly to prevent disruption of the partly healed wound

disrupt

dis-ˈrəpt 

transitive verb