interruption

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the act of starting to speak while someone else is already talking.

n. the act of breaking into someone else's speech or discourse, often perceived as a breach of conversational etiquette.

“Please excuse the interruption, but there is an urgent phone call for you.”

“The moderator struggled to maintain order as frequent interruptions from the audience made it difficult for the speaker to finish his argument.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. a period of time when something stops before starting again.

n. a time interval or gap during which there is a cessation of a continuous activity.

“After a brief interruption for lunch, the meeting continued until five o'clock.”

“The long-term study was compromised by a two-year interruption in data collection due to a lack of funding.”