Disturb definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISTURB, v.t. [L., to trouble, disorder, discompose; a crowd, a tumult; Gr., a tumult. The primary sense seems to be to stir, or to turn or whirl round.]
1. To stir; to move; to discompose; to excite from a state of rest or tranquillity. We say, the man is asleep, do not disturb him. Let the vessel stand, do not move the liquor, you will disturb the sediment. Disturb not the public peace.
2. To move or agitate; to disquiet; to excite uneasiness or a slight degree of anger in the mind; to move the passions; to ruffle. The mind may be disturbed by an offense given, by misfortune, surprise, contention, discord, jealousy, envy, etc.
3. To move from any regular course or operation; to interrupt regular order; to make irregular. It has been supposed that the approach of a comet may disturb the motions of the planets in their orbits. An unexpected cause may disturb a chemical operation, or the operation of medicine.
4. To interrupt; to hinder; to incommode. Care disturbs study. Let no person disturb my franchise.
5. To turn off from any direction; with from. [Unusual.]
--And disturb his inmost counsels from their destind aim.
DISTURB, n. Confusion; disorder. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: move deeply; "This book upset me"; "A troubling thought" [syn: disturb, upset, trouble]
2: change the arrangement or position of [syn: agitate, vex, disturb, commove, shake up, stir up, raise up]
3: tamper with; "Don't touch my CDs!" [syn: touch, disturb]
4: destroy the peace or tranquility of; "Don't interrupt me when I'm reading" [syn: interrupt, disturb]
5: damage as if by shaking or jarring; "Don't disturb the patient's wounds by moving him too rapidly!"

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English disturben, destourben, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French destorber, from Latin disturbare, from dis- + turbare to throw into disorder, from turba disorder — more at turbid Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to interfere with ; interrupt <disturbing the flow of traffic> b. to alter the position or arrangement of <the items on her desk had been disturbed> c. to upset the natural and especially the ecological balance or relations of <wetlands disturbed by development> 2. a. to destroy the tranquillity or composure of <the noisy lawnmower disturbed their sleep> b. to throw into disorder c. alarm d. to put to inconvenience <sorry to disturb you at such a late hour> intransitive verb to cause disturbance Synonyms: see discompose • disturber noun • disturbingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 break the rest, calm, or quiet of; interrupt. 2 agitate; worry (your story disturbs me). 3 move from a settled position, disarrange (the papers had been disturbed). 4 (as disturbed adj.) Psychol. emotionally or mentally unstable or abnormal. Derivatives: disturber n. disturbing adj. disturbingly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF desto(u)rber f. L disturbare (as DIS-, turbare f. turba tumult)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Disturb Dis*turb", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Disturbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Disturbing.] [OE. desturben, destourben, OF. destorber, desturber, destourber, fr. L. disturbare, disturbatum; dis- + turbare to disturb, trouble, turba disorder, tumult, crowd. See Turbid.] 1. To throw into disorder or confusion; to derange; to interrupt the settled state of; to excite from a state of rest. Preparing to disturb With all-cofounding war the realms above. --Cowper. The bellow's noise disturbed his quiet rest. --Spenser. The utmost which the discontented colonies could do, was to disturb authority. --Burke. 2. To agitate the mind of; to deprive of tranquillity; to disquiet; to render uneasy; as, a person is disturbed by receiving an insult, or his mind is disturbed by envy. 3. To turn from a regular or designed course. [Obs.] And disturb His inmost counsels from their destined aim. --Milton. Syn: To disorder; disquiet; agitate; discompose; molest; perplex; trouble; incommode; ruffle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Disturb Dis*turb", n. Disturbance. [Obs.] --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(disturbs, disturbing, disturbed) 1. If you disturb someone, you interrupt what they are doing and upset them. I hope I'm not disturbing you. VERB: V n 2. If something disturbs you, it makes you feel upset or worried. I dream about him, dreams so vivid that they disturb me for days... = perturb VERB: V n 3. If something is disturbed, its position or shape is changed. He'd placed his notes in the brown envelope. They hadn't been disturbed... She patted Mona, taking care not to disturb her costume. VERB: be V-ed, V n 4. If something disturbs a situation or atmosphere, it spoils it or causes trouble. What could possibly disturb such tranquility? VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Agitate, shake, stir. 2. Disarrange, derange, disorder, confuse, unsettle, throw into confusion, put into disorder. 3. Molest, annoy, disquiet, vex, ruffle, worry, plague, trouble, incommode. 4. Interrupt, impede, hinder.

Moby Thesaurus

abash, addle, addle the wits, affect, afflict, aggravate, agitate, ail, alarm, annoy, badger, bait, ball up, be at, be the matter, beat, beat up, becloud, bedazzle, bedevil, befuddle, beset, bewilder, bother, bristle, brown off, bug, bullyrag, burden, burn up, cancel, change, chivy, churn, churn up, cloud, complicate matters, concern, confound, confuse, convulse, damage, daze, dazzle, derange, destroy, devil, disarrange, disarray, discombobulate, discomfit, discomfort, discommode, discompose, disconcert, dishevel, dislocate, dismay, disorder, disorganize, disorient, displace, disquiet, disrupt, distemper, distract, distress, dog, electrify, embarrass, embroil, entangle, exasperate, excite, exercise, fash, ferment, flummox, flurry, fluster, flutter, fog, frazzle, fret, frighten, fuddle, fuss, get, give concern, gripe, harass, harm, harry, hassle, heckle, hector, hound, humiliate, incommode, inconvenience, interfere, interfere with, intermeddle, interrupt, irk, irritate, jar, jolt, jumble, knock galley-west, load with care, maze, meddle, mess up, miff, mist, mix up, moider, molest, mortify, move, muddle, nag, needle, negate, nettle, nudzh, paddle, peeve, perplex, persecute, perturb, perturbate, pester, pick on, pique, plague, pluck the beard, pother, provoke, psych, put off, put out, put to it, puzzle, raise hell, rattle, remove, replace, ride, rile, ripple, rock, roil, roughen, ruffle, ruin, rumple, scare, shake, shake up, shift, ship, shock, spook, stagger, stir, stir up, swirl, tamper, tease, terrify, throw, throw into confusion, torment, transfer, trouble, try the patience, tweak the nose, unhinge, unsettle, upset, vex, whip, whip up, whisk, work up, worry