Library / English Dictionary

DISTURB

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Damage as if by shaking or jarring

Example:

Don't disturb the patient's wounds by moving him too rapidly!

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "disturb" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Destroy the peace or tranquility of

Example:

Don't interrupt me when I'm reading

Synonyms:

disturb; interrupt

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "disturb" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot disturb Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

Tamper with

Example:

Don't touch my CDs!

Synonyms:

disturb; touch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "disturb" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disturb"):

upset (disturb the balance or stability of)

violate (destroy)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

disturbance (the act of disturbing something or someone; setting something in motion)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Change the arrangement or position of

Synonyms:

agitate; commove; disturb; raise up; shake up; stir up; vex

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "disturb" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disturb"):

beat; scramble (stir vigorously)

toss (agitate)

rile; roil (make turbid by stirring up the sediments of)

poke (stir by poking)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Move deeply

Example:

A troubling thought

Synonyms:

disturb; trouble; upset

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "disturb" is one way to...):

affect; impress; move; strike (have an emotional or cognitive impact upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disturb"):

agitate; charge; charge up; commove; excite; rouse; turn on (cause to be agitated, excited, or roused)

jolt (disturb (someone's) composure)

cark; disorder; disquiet; distract; perturb; trouble; unhinge (disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed)

distress (cause mental pain to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will disturb him

The performance is likely to disturb Sue

Derivation:

disturbance (an unhappy and worried mental state)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Lady Brackenstall thinks that they were themselves so disturbed by the death of Sir Eustace that they did not ransack the house, as they would otherwise have done.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Unconsciously we had all moved towards the door, and as we moved I noticed that the dust had been much disturbed: the boxes which had been taken out had been brought this way.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

At supper I requested the hunters to lower their voices, so she was not disturbed; and it was not till next morning that she made her appearance.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She was disturbed by no fear for her felicity, nor humbled by any remembrance of her misconduct.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It disturbs the reproduction, growth, and metabolism of marine species, and transforms the food chain.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

Oh! we do not want to disturb you from your seat.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I told the servants not to disturb the family, and went into the library to attend their usual hour of rising.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She was more disturbed by Mr. Knightley's not dancing than by any thing else.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

All John Reed's violent tyrannies, all his sisters' proud indifference, all his mother's aversion, all the servants' partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind like a dark deposit in a turbid well.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Does he/she wander at night, get dressed, or disturb your sleep?

(NPI - Difficulty Sleeping, NCI Thesaurus)