Perturb
[pə'tɜːb] or [pɚ'tɝb]
Definition
(verb.) throw into great confusion or disorder; 'Fundamental Islamicists threaten to perturb the social order in Algeria and Egypt'.
(verb.) disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed; 'She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill'.
(verb.) cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull; 'The orbits of these stars were perturbed by the passings of a comet'.
(verb.) disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom; 'The electrons were perturbed by the passing ion'.
Inputed by Chris--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To disturb; to agitate; to vex; to trouble; to disquiet.
(v. t.) To disorder; to confuse.
Checker: Neil
Definition
v.t. to disturb greatly: to agitate—also Per′turbate.—adj. Pertur′bable that can be agitated or confused.—ns. Pertur′bance Perturbā′tion act of perturbing or state of being perturbed: disquiet of mind: irregular action esp. (astron.) the disturbance produced in the simple elliptic motion of one heavenly body about another by the action of a third body or by the non-sphericity of the principal body; Pertur′bant any disturbing thing.—adjs. Perturbā′tional; Pertur′bative.—n. Pertur′batory the power of deflecting the divining-rod by magnetic influence.—p.adj. Perturbed′.—adv. Perturb′edly.—ns. Pertur′ber Perturbā′tor:—fem. Per′turbātrix.
Checked by Gilbert
Examples
- They perturb and dull conceptions instead of raising them. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Half way down the next flight, she smiled to think that a char-woman's stare should so perturb her. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I have no intention, because I have no right, to perturb your mind now, nor for months to come. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The succeeding half-hour's conversation was not of a nature to calm his perturbed spirit. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- No doubt the day on which he was perturbed was the day when he had seen of their release in the newspapers. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Mr. Welland's brow remained clouded, and it was evident that his perturbed imagination had fastened at once on this last remark. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- She seemed truly perturbed. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But in truth his views were perturbed. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- His spirit was perturbed to aching. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Not that I had taken note of any particular objects in my perturbed state of mind, but judging from the general character of the streets. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- You did not, nor will you fancy, pursued he, that a saint in heaven perturbs herself with rivalries of earth? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
Inputed by Gretchen