interrupt

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to stop an activity for a short time or to break up a long, flat surface or view.

v. to cause a temporary halt in a process or to break the continuity or monotony of a physical space.

“A series of loud bangs interrupted my sleep last night.”

“The vast, flat landscape was interrupted only by a few scattered farmhouses and the occasional cluster of ancient oak trees.”

C1 · Advanced Computing Technical

v. to send a signal to a computer that it needs to stop its current task to deal with something else.

v. to trigger a signal that causes the central processing unit to suspend its current execution to handle a specific event.

“The system will interrupt the main program if the printer runs out of paper.”

“The peripheral device is configured to interrupt the processor whenever a new packet of data is ready for transfer.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Computing Technical

n. a signal that tells a computer to stop what it is doing and look at a new task.

n. a signal to the processor emitted by hardware or software indicating an event that needs immediate attention.

“The computer received an interrupt from the keyboard when I pressed a key.”

“High-priority interrupts can cause significant latency in background processes if the handler is not optimized for speed.”