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An uproar; a noisy quarrel; a disturbance; a brawl.

To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.

To disturb with fear; to throw into a state of alarm or fright; to affright; to terrify. More frightened than hurt. Old Proverb.

To undergo or cause a disturbing action accompanied with a sensation of heat. To keep the oil from frying in the stomach. Bacon.

Tumult; disturbance; disorder. [Obs.] Shak.

Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop. "Gentle music." Sir J. Davies. O sleep! it is a gentle thing. Coleridge. The gentle craft, the art or trade of shoemaking.

Hence: Calm; quiet; peaceful; undisturbed; happy. "Deep, halcyon repose." De Quincy.

of feeling. In its nature heat is a mode if motion, being in general a form of molecular disturbance or vibration. It was formerly supposed to be a subtile, imponderable fluid, to which was given the name caloric.

eral species of bombycid moths, as of the Isabella moth. It curls up like a hedgehog when disturbed. See Woolly bear, and Isabella moth. -- Hedgehog fish (Zoöl.), any spinose plectognath fish, esp. of the genus Diodon; the porcupine fish. -- Hedgehog grass (Bot.), a grass with spiny involucres, growing on sandy shore…

. Milton. "In hope her to attain by hook or crook." Spenser. -- Off the hooks, unhinged; disturbed; disordered. [Colloq.] "In the evening, by water, to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightly off the hooks that the ships are not gone out of the river." Pepys. -- On one's own hook, on one's own account or responsi…

eflex excitability, producing convulsions whenever the patient attempts to swallow, or is disturbed in any way, as by the sight or sound of water; rabies; canine madness. [Written also hydrophoby.]

Incapable of being disturbed or disconcerted; as, imperturbable gravity.

To give inconvenience or trouble to; to disturb or molest; to discommode; to worry; to put out; as, we are incommoded by want of room.

Disordered; disturbed. [Obs.] Milton. -- In`com*po"sed*ly, adv. [Obs.] -- In`com*pos"ed*ness, n. [Obs.]

That which gives trouble, embarrassment, or uneasiness; disadvantage; anything that disturbs quiet, impedes prosperity, or increases the difficulty of action or success; as, one inconvenience of life is poverty. A place upon the top of Mount Athos above all clouds of rain, or other inconvenience. Sir W. Raleigh. Man is…

d for; as, an inexplicable mystery. "An inexplicable scratching." Cowper. Their reason is disturbed; their views become vast and perplexed, to others inexplicable, to themselves uncertain. Burke.

To trouble greatly by numbers or by frequency of presence; to disturb; to annoy; to frequent and molest or harass; as, fleas infest dogs and cats; a sea infested with pirates. To poison vermin that infest his plants. Cowper. These, said the genius, are envy, avarice, superstition, love, with the like cares and passions…

Giving no offense, or provocation; causing no uneasiness, annoyance, or disturbance; as, an inoffensive man, answer, appearance.

Disturbance. [Obs.] Sir T. Elyot.

Disturbed state; uneasiness either of body or mind; restlessness; disquietude. Sir H. Wotton.