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]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

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)


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.