To disrupt means to interrupt something that's happening, breaking its normal flow or pattern. When a fire alarm disrupts your math class, everyone has to stop what they're doing and file outside. When a younger sibling disrupts your homework time by asking endless questions, they're making it hard for you to concentrate.

Disruption can be minor, like a brief distraction, or major, like a thunderstorm disrupting airline travel across the country. The word carries a sense that something was proceeding smoothly until the disruption happened. A teacher might ask students not to disrupt the lesson by talking out of turn.

In the business world, disruption has taken on a different meaning. A disruptive company or invention changes an entire industry by doing something in a completely new way. Streaming services disrupted the video rental business. Electric cars are disrupting the auto industry. When used this way, disruption isn't necessarily bad: it means shaking up the old way of doing things, often bringing improvements or new possibilities. But it's still interrupting what came before, forcing everyone to adapt.

The noun form is disruption. Someone who frequently interrupts or causes trouble might be described as disruptive, though this usually suggests they're being a problem rather than bringing positive change.