disturb

«disturb» in Mova's school dictionary: to interrupt them when they are busy, resting or sleeping — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (disturb, disturbs, disturbed, disturbing)

meaning for a pupil

1) To disturb someone means to interrupt them when they are busy, resting or sleeping. tree →

2) To disturb something means to move it or change its position or order. tree →

3) To disturb someone can mean to make them worried or upset. tree →

4) Disturbing describes something that makes you upset or uneasy. tree →

5) To disturb yourself means to get up or bother yourself to do something. tree →

sense in the lessons

Everyday and manners: «Do not disturb» signs on doors; knock and wait if someone is busy; be quiet in the library so you don't disturb others. In nature and safety: do not disturb nesting birds, wild animals or rock pool creatures, and put rocks back where you found them. In stories a disturbing event shows something is wrong. Phrases: «sorry to disturb you», «do not disturb», «disturb the peace».

examples

• Sorry to disturb you, but may I ask a question? tree →
• Please don't disturb the baby; she's asleep. tree →
• The sign on the door said «Do not disturb». tree →
• Don't disturb birds when they are nesting. tree →
• Put the rock back gently so you don't disturb the crabs. tree →
• The noise from the road disturbed my sleep. tree →
• The film had some disturbing scenes. tree →
• Someone had disturbed the papers on my desk. tree →
• Nothing disturbs the peaceful sleep of the dead. tree →

note

Past: «disturbed». Noun: «disturbance». Adjectives: «disturbed» (upset) and «disturbing» (upsetting). «Disturb» ends in «-urb» like «suburb».

In the corpora

• In Kenya, hornbills and dwarf mongooses team up: the birds catch insects the mongooses disturb and call out warnings of hawks.
• Stink bugs release bad-smelling chemicals when disturbed, and smells work well as defences because predators learn quickly.
• Never disturb a dog that is eating, sleeping, chewing a toy or looking after puppies.
• Disturbing a nest makes wasps or bees attack in large numbers.
• It is against the law in many countries to disturb the nests of wild birds or take their eggs.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «disturb» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.