Perturbation
[,pɜːtə'beɪʃ(ə)n] or [,pɝtɚ'beʃən]
Definition
(noun.) a disposition that is confused or nervous and upset.
(noun.) activity that is a malfunction, intrusion, or interruption; 'the term `distress' connotes some degree of perturbation and emotional upset'; 'he looked around for the source of the disturbance'; 'there was a disturbance of neural function'.
(noun.) (physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly.
Checked by Balder--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of perturbing, or the state of being perturbed; esp., agitation of mind.
(n.) A disturbance in the regular elliptic or other motion of a heavenly body, produced by some force additional to that which causes its regular motion; as, the perturbations of the planets are caused by their attraction on each other.
Edited by Debra
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Agitation, trepidation, disquiet, uneasiness, excitement, discomposure, worry, vexation.
Checker: Louie
Examples
- After staring at me, in great perturbation, she went back into the house with my message, closing the door, and leaving me to wait in the garden. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- In that dreadful perturbation of mind and laxity of body, to what remedy did I apply? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- While these newly-born notions were passing in their heads, the perturbation of Elizabeth's feelings was at every moment increasing. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- This was an inverse problem; the perturbation being given, it was required to find the position, mass, and orbit of the disturbing planet. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Wildeve could hardly control his own too forward feelings when he saw her silent perturbation. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I don't know, Clym; but I can think, she said with much perturbation. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Mr. Brooke was evidently in a state of nervous perturbation. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Marianne's joy was almost a degree beyond happiness, so great was the perturbation of her spirits and her impatience to be gone. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- But Rosamond was expecting to have a baby, and Lydgate wished to save her from any perturbation. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The conduct of the white strangers it was that caused him the greatest perturbation. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- The Saxon prisoners were accordingly removed, just as they introduced the monk Ambrose, who appeared to be in great perturbation. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Truth has no lack; it is untouched by the perturbations of the world of sense. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The ordinary problem in planetary perturbations calls for the determination of the effect on a known orbit exerted by a body of known mass and m otion. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Bouvard answered that the idea had occurred to him ; indeed, he had had some correspondence in reference to it in 1829 with Hansen, an authorit y on planetary perturbations. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- He approached the solution gradually, ever taking into ac count more terms of the perturbations. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The Major thought he recognized the piano, though, with the picture over it, as it used to be in former days, and his perturbations were renewed. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Edited by Jonathan