different between interrupt vs intersperse

English

Alternative forms

• interrumpt (archaic), interroupt (rare), interrout (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin interruptus, from interrumpere (“to break apart, break to pieces, break off, interrupt”), from inter (“between”) + rumpere (“to break”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nt????pt/ (verb)
• (verb)
• Rhymes: -?pt (verb)
• IPA^(key): /??nt????pt/ (noun)
• Hyphenation: in?ter?rupt

Verb

interrupt (third-person singular simple present interrupts, present participle interrupting, simple past and past participle interrupted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly.

2. (transitive) To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.

3. (transitive, computing) To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.

Antonyms

• continue
• resume

Related terms

• interruptee
• interrupter
• interruption
• abrupt
• corrupt
• disrupt

Translations

Noun

interrupt (plural interrupts)

1. (computing, electronics) An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• interrupt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• interrupt in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• interrupt at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Latin intersperg?, interspersus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nt?(?)?sp??(?)s/

Verb

intersperse (third-person singular simple present intersperses, present participle interspersing, simple past and past participle interspersed)

1. To mix two things irregularly, placing things of one kind among things of other:
   • 1991, Frank Biocca, Television and Political Advertising: Signs, codes, and images, page 76:

     For example, a commercial sequence might intersperse pictures of a senator working in his office with shots of ordinary Americans happily working in various walks of life.

2. (transitive) To scatter or insert something into or among other things.
   • 1985, Jane Y. Murdock, Barbara V. Hartmann, Communication and language intervention program (CLIP) for individuals with moderate to severe handicaps, page 46:

     Review tasks are particularly useful to intersperse when students are experiencing considerable failure.
3. (transitive) To diversify by placing or inserting other things among something.

   Mother Nature interspersed the petunias with a few dandelions, but it was a pretty garden, anyway.

Related terms

• interspersed
• interspersion

Translations

References

• intersperse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• intersperse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• enterprises, entreprises, serpentries