5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Interrupt  \In`ter*rupt"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Interrupted};  p. 
  pr  &  vb  n.  {Interrupting}.]  [L.  interruptus,  p.  p.  of 
  interrumpere  to  interrupt;  inter  between  +  rumpere  to  break. 
  See  {Rupture}.] 
  1.  To  break  into  or  between;  to  stop,  or  hinder  by  breaking 
  in  upon  the  course  or  progress  of  to  interfere  with  the 
  current  or  motion  of  to  cause  a  temporary  cessation  of 
  as  to  interrupt  the  remarks  speaking. 
 
  Do  not  interrupt  me  in  my  course.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  To  divide;  to  separate;  to  break  the  monotony  of  as  the 
  evenness  of  the  road  was  not  interrupted  by  a  single  hill. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Interrupt  \In`ter*rupt"\,  p.  a.  [L.  interruptus,  p.  p.] 
  Broken;  interrupted.  [Obs.]  --Milton. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  interrupt 
  v  1:  make  a  break  in  "We  interrupt  the  program  for  the  following 
  messages"  [syn:  {disrupt},  {break  up},  {cut  off}] 
  2:  destroy  the  peace  or  tranquility  of  "Don't  interrupt  me 
  when  I'm  reading"  [syn:  {disturb}] 
  3:  interfere  in  someone  else's  activity;  "Please  don't 
  interrupt  me  while  I'm  on  the  phone"  [syn:  {disrupt}] 
  4:  end  prematurely;  "She  interrupted  her  pregnancy";  "break  a 
  lucky  streak"  [syn:  {break}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  interrupt  1.  [techspeak]  n.  On  a  computer,  an  event  that 
  interrupts  normal  processing  and  temporarily  diverts  flow-of-control 
  through  an  "interrupt  handler"  routine.  See  also  {trap}.  2. 
  interj.  A  request  for  attention  from  a  hacker.  Often  explicitly  spoken. 
  "Interrupt  --  have  you  seen  Joe  recently?"  See  {priority  interrupt}. 
  3.  Under  MS-DOS,  nearly  synonymous  with  `system  call',  because  the  OS  and 
  BIOS  routines  are  both  called  using  the  INT  instruction  (see  {{interrupt 
  list}})  and  because  programmers  so  often  have  to  bypass  the  OS  (going 
  directly  to  a  BIOS  interrupt)  to  get  reasonable  performance. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  interrupt 
 
    1.  An  {asynchronous}  event  that  suspends  normal 
  processing  and  temporarily  diverts  the  {flow  of  control} 
  through  an  "{interrupt  handler}"  routine. 
 
  Interrupts  may  be  caused  by  both  {hardware}  (I/O,  timer, 
  machine  check)  and  {software}  (supervisor,  {system  call}  or 
  {trap}  instruction). 
 
  In  general  the  computer  responds  to  an  interrupt  by  storing 
  the  information  about  the  current  state  of  the  running 
  program;  storing  information  to  identify  the  source  of  the 
  interrupt;  and  invoking  a  first-level  {interrupt  handler}. 
  This  is  usually  a  {kernel}  level  privileged  process  that  can 
  discover  the  precise  cause  of  the  interrupt  (e.g.  if  several 
  devices  share  one  interrupt)  and  what  must  be  done  to  keep 
  operating  system  tables  (such  as  the  process  table)  updated. 
  This  first-level  handler  may  then  call  another  handler, 
  e.g.  one  associated  with  the  particular  device  which  generated 
  the  interrupt. 
 
  2.  Under  {MS-DOS},  nearly  synonymous  with  "{system  call}" 
  because  the  {OS}  and  {BIOS}  routines  are  both  called  using  the 
  INT  instruction  (see  {interrupt  list})  and  because  programmers 
  so  often  have  to  bypass  the  operating  system  (going  directly 
  to  a  BIOS  interrupt)  to  get  reasonable  performance. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1995-02-07) 
 
 

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