disturbance

«disturbance» in Mova's school dictionary: Something that interrupts you or stops you resting or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a disturbance, disturbances; disturbance — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Something that interrupts you or stops you resting or working, like a noise. tree →

2) Trouble or fighting in a public place: The police were called to a disturbance. tree →

3) A change or upset in something that was calm or normal: a disturbance in the weather; a sleep disturbance. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories and news a «disturbance» is noise or trouble; in science a weather disturbance can grow into a storm; in safety lessons you report a disturbance to an adult. Phrases: «cause a disturbance», «a disturbance in the night», «sorry for the disturbance».

examples

• Sorry for the disturbance, but can I borrow a pen? tree →
• The barking dog caused a disturbance at night. tree →
• Police were called to a disturbance outside the shop. tree →
• Building work is a big disturbance for the neighbours. tree →
• Forecasters watched a tropical disturbance over the sea. tree →
• We worked in silence without any disturbance. tree →
• From words they came to blows, and the women, frightened at the disturbance, pelted Tephany with insulting names. tree →

note

From the verb «disturb». Spelled -ance, not -ence. Countable (a disturbance) or uncountable (without disturbance). Formal; in casual talk people say «a noise» or «trouble».

In the corpora

• "Disturbances" means riots (UK).

Trees and pragmatics

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