[syn: interrupt, break]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Interrupt \In`ter*rupt"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Interrupted; p.
pr. & vb. n. Interrupting.] [L. interruptus, p. p. of
interrumpere to interrupt; inter between + rumpere to break.
See Rupture.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To break into, or between; to stop, or hinder by breaking
in upon the course or progress of; to interfere with the
current or motion of; to cause a temporary cessation of;
as, to interrupt the remarks of anyone speaking.
[1913 Webster]
Do not interrupt me in my course. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of; as, the
evenness of the road was not interrupted by a single hill.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Interrupt \In`ter*rupt"\, p. a. [L. interruptus, p. p.]
Broken; interrupted. [Obs.] --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
interrupt
n 1: a signal that temporarily stops the execution of a program
so that another procedure can be carried out
v 1: make a break in; "We interrupt the program for the
following messages" [syn: interrupt, disrupt, break
up, cut off]
2: destroy the peace or tranquility of; "Don't interrupt me when
I'm reading" [syn: interrupt, disturb]
3: interfere in someone else's activity; "Please don't interrupt
me while I'm on the phone" [syn: interrupt, disrupt]
4: terminate; "She interrupted her pregnancy"; "break a lucky
streak"; "break the cycle of poverty" [syn: interrupt,
break]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
71 Moby Thesaurus words for "interrupt":
arrest, barge in, blow it, bottle up, break, break in, break in on,
break off, butt in, cease, check, chime in, chip in, countercheck,
curb, cut in, cut off, cut short, dam up, damp, dampen, defer,
delay, detain, disarrange, discontinue, disjoin, disrupt, disturb,
end, go off half-cocked, halt, hinder, hold back, hold in check,
hold up, horn in, impede, inhibit, intercept, interfere,
interfere with, intermeddle, intermit, intervene, intrude,
keep back, keep in check, meddle, oppose, postpone, punctuate,
put in, repress, resist, restrain, retard, scotch, set back,
slacken, snap the thread, snub, speak inopportunely,
speak too late, stall, stay, stop, suppress, suspend, take a break,
terminate
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
interrupt
1. [techspeak] n. On a computer, an event that interrupts normal processing
and temporarily diverts flow-of-control through an ?interrupt handler?
routine. See also trap.
2. interj. A request for attention from a hacker. Often explicitly spoken.
?Interrupt ? have you seen Joe recently?? See priority interrupt.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
interrupt
interrupts
1. An asynchronous event that suspends normal
processing and temporarily diverts the flow of control
through an "interrupt handler" routine.
Interrupts may be caused by both hardware (I/O, timer,
machine check) and software (supervisor, system call or
trap instruction).
In general the computer responds to an interrupt by storing
the information about the current state of the running
program; storing information to identify the source of the
interrupt; and invoking a first-level interrupt handler.
This is usually a kernel level privileged process that can
discover the precise cause of the interrupt (e.g. if several
devices share one interrupt) and what must be done to keep
operating system tables (such as the process table) updated.
This first-level handler may then call another handler,
e.g. one associated with the particular device which generated
the interrupt.
2. Under MS-DOS, nearly synonymous with "system call"
because the OS and BIOS routines are both called using the
INT instruction (see interrupt list) and because programmers
so often have to bypass the operating system (going directly
to a BIOS interrupt) to get reasonable performance.
[Jargon File]
(1995-02-07)