Set 87 · Study 1 / 5

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interrupt

verb/ˌɪn(t)əˈrəpt/

to stop a person speaking or something from continuing what it is doing

Small children often interrupt their mothers when they are talking.

interfereintrudestop
word origin — late Middle English: from Latin interrupt- ‘broken, interrupted’, from the verb interrumpere, from inter- ‘between’ + rumpere ‘to break’

Intermediate — Set 87

Set 87 of Intermediate covers 5 words: interrupt, increase, explode, decrease, hide. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

  1. interrupt · verb/ˌɪn(t)əˈrəpt/

    to stop a person speaking or something from continuing what it is doing

    Small children often interrupt their mothers when they are talking.

    Synonyms: interfere, intrude, stop

    Origin: late Middle English: from Latin interrupt- ‘broken, interrupted’, from the verb interrumpere, from inter- ‘between’ + rumpere ‘to break’

  2. increase · verb/ɪnˈkris/

    to become greater in amount, size, or number, or to make something greater

    According to Office for National Statistics, it is estimated that population of the UK could increase by three million over the next decade.

    Synonyms: raise, boost, go up

    Origin: Middle English (formerly also as encrease): from Old French encreistre, from Latin increscere, from in- ‘into’ + crescere ‘grow’

  3. explode · verb/ɪkˈsploʊd/

    to burst suddenly and violently, usually with a loud noise

    In order to test nuclear weapons, scientists explode nuclear bombs underground.

    Synonyms: blow up, burst

    Origin: mid 16th century (in the sense ‘reject scornfully’): from Latin explodere ‘drive out by clapping, hiss off the stage’, from ex- ‘out’ + plaudere ‘to clap’. explode (sense 4) is derived from the original sense of the word. explode (sense 1) (late 18th century) evolved via an old sense ‘expel with violence and sudden noise’, perhaps influenced by obsolete displode ‘burst with a noise’

  4. decrease · verb/dəˈkris/

    to make something lesser or smaller in size, amount or degree

    With better treatments, death rates for many illnesses decrease each year.

    Synonyms: diminish, lessen, decline

    Origin: late Middle English: from Old French decreis (noun), decreistre (verb), based on Latin decrescere, from de- ‘down’ + crescere ‘grow’

  5. hide · verb/haɪd/

    to deliberately keep something or somebody unseen

    The children tried to hide the broken window from their parents.

    Synonyms: conceal, disguise, cover

    Origin: Old English hȳdan, of West Germanic origin