perturb

From Middle English perturben, from Old French perturber, from Latin perturbare (“throw into confusion, confuse, disorder, disturb”), from per (“through”) + turbare (“to confuse, disturb”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈtɝb/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b

perturb (third-person singular simple present perturbs, present participle perturbing, simple past and past participle perturbed)

1. To disturb; to bother or unsettle.

   Synonyms: agitate, unsettle; see also Thesaurus:upset

2. (physics) To slightly modify the motion of an object.
3. (astronomy) To modify the motion of a body by exerting a gravitational force.
4. (mathematics) To modify slightly, such as an equation or value.

• “perturb”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “perturb”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “perturb”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• IPA^(key): [perˈturb]

perturb

1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of perturba