PERTURB

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does perturb mean? 

• PERTURB (verb)
  The verb PERTURB has 4 senses:

1. disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed

2. disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom

3. cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull

4. throw into great confusion or disorder

  Familiarity information: PERTURB used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERTURB (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they perturb    ... he / she / it perturbs   
Past simple: perturbed   
Past participle: perturbed   
-ing form: perturbing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

cark; disorder; disquiet; distract; perturb; trouble; unhinge

Context example:

She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill

Hypernyms (to "perturb" is one way to...):

disturb; trouble; upset (move deeply)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "perturb"):

vex; worry (disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will perturb him

Derivation:

perturbation (a disposition that is confused or nervous and upset)

perturbation (an unhappy and worried mental state)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The electrons were perturbed by the passing ion

Hypernyms (to "perturb" is one way to...):

deviate (cause to turn away from a previous or expected course)

Verb group:

perturb (cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

perturbation (the act of causing disorder)

perturbation ((physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The orbits of these stars were perturbed by the passings of a comet

Hypernyms (to "perturb" is one way to...):

deviate (cause to turn away from a previous or expected course)

Verb group:

perturb (disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

perturbation ((physics) a secondary influence on a system that causes it to deviate slightly)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Throw into great confusion or disorder

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

derange; perturb; throw out of kilter

Context example:

Fundamentalists threaten to perturb the social order

Hypernyms (to "perturb" is one way to...):

disarray; disorder (bring disorder to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

perturbation (the act of causing disorder)

perturbation (a disposition that is confused or nervous and upset)

 Context examples 

"I should" (he looked at her whimsically), "be greatly perturbed."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He seemed greatly perturbed, unable to reply to me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"I'm very sorry to hear of this, Miss March," he said, in the kind, quiet tone which sounded very pleasantly to her perturbed spirit.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

In that context, the transplanted cells would have been “perturbed,” or removed from their natural environment.

(Cellular barcoding helps scientists understand the behavior of stem cells, National Institutes of Health)

But he was soon back again, perturbed by a new complication.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I walked up and down my room hastily and perturbed, while my imagination conjured up a thousand images to torment and sting me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“No doubt the day on which he was perturbed was the day when he had seen of their release in the newspapers.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He sat down to consider, listening to the silence of the forest and perturbed by it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The bright clouds form when the flow of ambient air is perturbed and diverted upward over the dark vortex, causing gases to likely freeze into methane ice crystals.

(Hubble Imagery Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune, NASA)