transitive verb

• 1Interrupt (an event, activity, or process) by causing a disturbance or problem.

  ‘a rail strike that could disrupt both passenger and freight service’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It only defers its end by disrupting the social event with which it begins.’
  • ‘The contest became a target in 1970 when women protesters disrupted the event.’
  • ‘Arrangements also have to be made for visitors to view it, without disrupting the daily activities of the embassy.’
  • ‘The roof structure itself can be added on to, again, without disrupting the ongoing activities of the airport.’
  • ‘Martin later made a point of thanking the pickets for not disrupting the event.’
  • ‘All of this in spite of insurgents' efforts to disrupt the reconstruction process.’
  • ‘Police said they had mounted the operation to ensure the safety of those attending the club and to disrupt criminal activities.’
  • ‘We've done a great deal to disrupt their activity and influence the flow of money.’
  • ‘It will specifically target offenders and disrupt their activities.’
  • ‘The notion that a small group would disrupt the event for reasons of self-interest will be regarded as distasteful.’
  • ‘They were targeted after police visited or monitored their homes in a bid to to disrupt their activities.’
  • ‘Strike action would disrupt performances in the company's current summer festival season.’
  • ‘Such categorization often results in intellectual stereotyping that disrupts the process of equipping students for ministry.’
  • ‘They also play havoc with IP transmissions by disrupting the acknowledgement process.’
  • ‘We trust that the courts will not allow the first of these matters to be abused by those intent on disrupting the arbitral process.’
  • ‘Regular mealtimes and other activities are not disrupted by the arrival of a child.’
  • ‘It is feared that low-flying seagulls could disrupt events such as beach volleyball.’
  • ‘Then they have these people coming out, disrupting the election procedures.’
  • ‘The participants had no intention of disrupting the special session.’
  • ‘Suffragettes were jailed for offences ranging from disrupting political meetings or refusing to pay taxes, to assault.’

  Synonyms

  throw into confusion, throw into disorder, throw into disarray, cause confusion in, cause turmoil in, play havoc with, derange, turn upside-down, make a mess of

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Drastically alter or destroy the structure of.
     ‘if an explosion of volcanic steam had formed the crater, the blast from below would have disrupted the underlying rock’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Applying an irritant chemical to the membrane disrupts the ordered structure: the dye is released and the globular proteins undergo conformational changes.’
     • ‘In the shaken solution - which disrupts spatial structure - the ancestral morph persisted solitarily.’
     • ‘A hydronium ion, however, disrupts this structure because it can accommodate a maximum of three hydrogen bonds.’
     • ‘It is an antistructuralist reading, one that disrupts both the structures within the text and those that frame it.’
     • ‘PyrR binding in turn disrupts the structure of the antiterminator hairpin.’
     • ‘This could have led to disruption of a turn, and thus disrupting global structure.’
     • ‘Alkylating agents function by reacting with and disrupting the structure of DNA.’
     • ‘These changes profoundly altered society by disrupting traditional patterns of domestic life and language.’
     • ‘When the dingoes are persecuted, however, it disrupts the social structure of dingo packs and leads to crossbreeding.’
     • ‘Monetary policy can never have a neutral effect on an economy because it disrupts the production structure and relative prices.’
     • ‘Defects disrupting the structural integrity of a particular state will affect adjacent states.’
     • ‘It is a rational decision procedure based upon the insight that terror disrupts social structures.’
     • ‘Every circumstance in church life offers an opportunity for the forces of the abyss to disrupt and destroy.’
     • ‘The warning flag goes up for excessive alcohol, as it disrupts some sleep patterns and can result in increasing fatigue.’
     • ‘Where insertion does not disrupt the structural gene, the activity is expressed, killing the cell.’
     • ‘There was a major effort to disrupt the enemy's command structure on Thursday morning.’
     • ‘It was designed to concentrate firepower to disrupt and destroy the opponent's military capability.’
     • ‘The beetles kill trees by disrupting their water- and nutrient-carrying tissues.’
     • ‘This disrupts the concentration gradients and so alters the natural design.’
     • ‘Of course the problem is that this text disrupts an argument that was clearly structured according to the principles of a Complete Argument.’
     • ‘The research has developed a technique which disrupts the process of replication by selecting genes carrying the virus and killing them.’
     • ‘This means we're disrupting their activities, because they have to move to another border crossing.’
     Synonyms

     distort, damage, buckle, warp

     View synonyms
  2. 1.2(of a company or form of technology) cause radical change in (an industry or market) by means of innovation.
     ‘our 3D printing technology is disrupting the traditional manufacturing industry’
     More example sentences

     • ‘We have high expectations for the company as their innovative approach and technology are poised to disrupt the cybersecurity market.’
     • ‘The academic-turned-entrepreneur is developing a search engine which aims to disrupt the current advertising models used by online giants Google and Facebook.’
     • ‘Something better-geared towards digital-first consumers was needed to disrupt the industry.’
     • ‘The business is using blockchain technology to disrupt the augmented reality space.’
     • ‘The company has launched a new mobile app with the bold aim of disrupting the market.’
     • ‘The report on how financial technology is disrupting banks said the institutions would shift to the mobile phone as the main channel of interaction between customers and their banks.’
     • ‘The oil majors, like the big automakers, don't have the luxury of burning through investor cash like the startups disrupting the transportation sector.’
     • ‘Innovators are emerging and disrupting traditional industry segments from retail to media to advertising to content.’
     • ‘While blockchain projects have aimed at disrupting banking services, the financial system is also prepared for upgrades.’
     • ‘After disrupting the cable TV industry, the streaming giant is now taking aim at Hollywood movie studios with a lineup of original films.’