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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#m1)

2) Trouble or fighting in a public place: The police were called to a disturbance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#m2)

3) A change or upset in something that was calm or normal: a disturbance in the weather; a sleep disturbance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x1)
- The barking dog caused a disturbance at night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x2)
- Police were called to a disturbance outside the shop. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x3)
- Building work is a big disturbance for the neighbours. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x4)
- Forecasters watched a tropical disturbance over the sea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x5)
- We worked in silence without any disturbance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x6)
- From words they came to blows, and the women, frightened at the disturbance, pelted Tephany with insulting names. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/#x7)

### 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).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/25-spin-war-and-violence/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «disturbance» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disturbance/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.