interrupt

To suddenly stop someone speaking or doing something, often by speaking to them.

• Please do not interrupt me.
• The phone interrupted our conversation.
• She kept interrupting while I was explaining.

How to use it: interrupt someone with something (He interrupted me with a question.); interrupt someone while they do something (Please do not interrupt her while she works.)

Similar words: cut in, disturb

Common phrases: interrupt someone, interrupt a conversation, sorry to interrupt, interrupt a meeting

To send a computer a signal telling it to pause its current work and handle another event.

• The timer interrupts the processor.
• A hardware fault interrupted the computer.
• The device interrupts the CPU when new data arrives.

Common phrases: interrupt the processor, interrupt the cpu, interrupt a computer

A signal that makes a computer pause its current task to handle another event.

• The processor received an interrupt.
• A timer interrupt started the next task.
• The program temporarily disabled interrupts.

Common phrases: hardware interrupt, software interrupt, interrupt handler, timer interrupt