Definition of "disturbance" []

• The act of disturbing. (noun)
• The condition of being disturbed: "The forest . . . is in various stages of disturbance. Only the biggest trees . . . have been left standing” ( Alex Shoumatoff). (noun)
• Something that disturbs, as a commotion, scuffle, or public tumult. (noun)
• Mental or emotional unbalance or disorder. (noun)
• A variation in normal wind conditions. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A great deal of that which we call disturbance -- a great deal of the upset in what have seemed to be established institutions -- is really but the surface indication of something approaching a regeneration."
• "This for me was a unique experience, as my ability to sleep through any kind of noisy disturbance is legendary."
• "I mean, play on the paintball fields where the disturbance is contained ... not in where hunters are."