disrupt

verb

1. (transitive)To throw into confusion or disorder.

   “Hecklers disrupted the man's speech.”

2. (transitive)To interrupt or impede.

   “Work on the tunnel was disrupted by a strike.”

   “The Glaswegians bore good-humouredly the mishaps which occasionally disrupted the services during the first month.”

   “Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.”

   “In the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic region, where 2°C warming has already occurred since 1950, the loss of coastal sea ice and permafrost is disrupting traditional Inuit hunting routines.”

   “The scientific instruments of the day recorded rapid fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, as powerful electrical currents flowed through the upper atmosphere. Ships' logs noted observations of the northern lights as far south as the Caribbean, and telegraph systems across the world were disrupted as electrical currents were induced in the copper lines.”

3. (transitive)To improve a product or service in ways that displace an established one and surprise the market.

   “The internet makes it easier for leaner businesses to disrupt the larger and more unwieldy ones.”

adj

1. (obsolete)Torn off or torn asunder; severed; disrupted.