verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a worrying/disturbing aspect
▪ The worrying aspect is that it gets worse every year.
an alarming/worrying/disturbing trend
▪ I have detected a worrying trend of late.
disturb sb’s concentration
▪ She slipped out of the room, trying not to disturb his concentration.
disturb the peace (=end or spoil it)
▪ Only church bells disturbed the peace.
disturb the silence (=end the silence by making a sound)
▪ Nothing moved, no sound disturbed the silence.
horrible/disturbing
▪ A horrible thought struck her: could he be having an affair?
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
deeply
▪ For the landed nobility, the impact of Emancipation was deeply disturbing.
▪ I was deeply disturbed at this.
▪ Einstein was deeply disturbed by the implications of this collapse, and he refused to believe that it happened.
▪ I was deeply disturbed by this and quite convinced that it would lead to serious trouble.
▪ These out-of-position stars indicate that something has deeply disturbed the way things were in the galaxy.
▪ Had they been deeply disturbed from birth?
emotionally
▪ Most parents and teachers believe that mOst work-inhibited students are not severely emotionally disturbed.
▪ I ask Val-does Casey believe he is emotionally disturbed?
▪ Anyway, what she does is work with emotionally disturbed people, teaching them to express their innermost feelings through poetry.
▪ After three months he moved to a half way house for the emotionally disturbed.
▪ Some 10, 000 seriously emotionally disturbed children under age 18 receive behavioral health services.
▪ They managed to shift about half of the mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed patients to homes and less restrictive programs.
▪ But it is a skill to be learned and practiced by the teacher / library media specialist of the emotionally disturbed.
▪ They included the emotionally disturbed, the retarded and the neurologically damaged.
greatly
▪ I couldn't possibly know, but that outburst, understandable as it was, greatly disturbed me.
▪ Despite it, I am quite satisfied that their evenings, their sleep and their general comfort were greatly disturbed.
▪ And man, lacking such things as machinery, petroleum, pesticides, etc, did not greatly disturb the environment.
mentally
▪ She was labeled mentally disturbed and put in the psychiatric ward of a small hospital without any administrative procedure.
▪ Some of the women are mentally disturbed.
▪ The judgment could lead to the release of dozens of mentally disturbed offenders from high-security hospitals.
▪ I knew that meant mentally disturbed.
▪ That, the court heard, gave him the chance to study the behaviour of people who really were mentally disturbed.
▪ But it is hard for students who have lost their parents or are mentally disturbed.
▪ Her biggest victory came when a court ruled in May that she is not mentally disturbed.
more
▪ This close it was more disturbing than ever.
▪ It is even more disturbing that job market trends in the mid-1990s pulled down new groups of workers.
▪ Even more disturbing is the culling carried out to protect crops, for example in orchards in the Perth Hills.
▪ The children became wild, and the atmosphere from day to day grew more disturbing to the rest of the school.
▪ The other sound was more disturbing still-a faint yet piercing scream, or howl.
▪ At the Esquire Theater more disturbing things happen.
▪ When he took a green ribbon from her and tied it loosely round his waist, Joseph was even more disturbed.
▪ He was more disturbed than that, but I was unable to perceive it.
most
▪ This was, of course, most disturbing to her parents.
▪ By far the most disturbing aspect of this corruption is the country's reluctance to punish any of the culprits.
▪ Regardless of race or class, what people were most disturbed about was the declining quality of their schools.
▪ However, the most disturbing corruption scandals have concerned not politicians but sportsmen.
▪ But the most disturbing aspect was the Bay Area consternation about Flood.
▪ And, most disturbing, Hayley's Mystery Sausage.
▪ It came as a flash, a most disturbing insight.
particularly
▪ The situation was particularly disturbing in the state of Bihar, which alone accounted for three-quarters of the latter group.
▪ But I find them particularly disturbing when related to the death of a refugee seeking asylum in Britain.
▪ It is particularly disturbed by the imminent introduction of fish which have been fed with mammalian growth hormones.
very
▪ Female speaker I am very disturbed by people who are therapists who seem to be divulging private information about their clients.
▪ This is a very disturbing story.
▪ It has come down to personalities and Julia is very disturbed by it all.
▪ And there is another very disturbing note.
▪ This boy, as I have said, is clearly very disturbed.
▪ That is, they resist three very disturbing experiences: 1.
■ NOUN
peace
▪ Kenneth Jackson's crooning struck a wrong note with police who arrested him for allegedly disturbing the peace.
▪ Unfortunately, thoughts of the future Mrs Blue occasionally disturb his growing peace of mind.
▪ Riders heard disturbing the peace will have their registrations noted, and these will then be passed on to the police.
▪ When she none the less returned to school, the board president had her arrested for disturbing the peace.
▪ It disturbed his peace of mind.
▪ I was also frightened that she wrote to accuse me of disturbing her peace.
▪ She promised herself never again to disturb the peace of this man's life.
sleep
▪ A late crow said a word as her entry through the open drive gate disturbed his first sleep.
▪ Conversely, disturbed sleep patterns can cause periods to become irregular or stop altogether.
▪ For several nights afterwards nightmares of violence and death disturbed normally peaceful sleep.
▪ The Catskills peace and quiet deep Have been too much disturbed for sleep.
▪ Do not disturb this sleep unless there are other indications that the child is not sleeping a peaceful, healing sleep.
▪ A frequently cited study conducted in Los Angeles yielded some interesting results concerning noise and how it disturbs sleep.
▪ Afterward, he lay beside her, not moving, not wanting to disturb the deep sleep into which Nina usually drifted.
▪ Playing Desert Storm on my Sega console had not only eroded my morals, it had disturbed my beauty sleep.
■ VERB
find
▪ Officers found a disturbing pattern of abuse at the Bristol homes, and the investigation was expanded.
▪ Agents have also found other disturbing signs.
▪ But I find them particularly disturbing when related to the death of a refugee seeking asylum in Britain.
▪ If you find these facts disturbing or hard to believe, do not worry.
▪ I found it a bit disturbing sometimes but I just had to accept it.
▪ That finding could be disturbing, because such women run a higher risk.
▪ Although it has now become a way of life, I still find it disturbing.
▪ It was a state Riley found disturbing, although Nyrene was more used to it.
hate
▪ Martin I hate to disturb you when you're cooking the books, but there's a delivery.
seem
▪ If this frankness made Ramsay a little uncomfortable, it did not seem to disturb the others.
▪ It seemed a pity to disturb them as we went about our daily chores.
▪ Her movement seemed to disturb fitzAlan.
▪ Though his message seemed eccentric and even disturbing to many, Turner climbed in church ranks.
▪ It seems a grand truth now, though in the morning it may not seem worth disturbing her for.
want
▪ I didn't want to disturb you.
▪ There were times he would retreat to his attic room and not want to be disturbed.
▪ It is a time when people, putting off the reality of Monday morning, don't want to be disturbed.
▪ If he was working she didn't want to disturb him.
▪ I didn't want to disturb the family at a moment like this so I came to check in person.
▪ You don't want us united, disturbing your cosy control.
▪ She tried not to make a sound, because she didn't want to disturb her husband.
▪ You might imagine that the Government doesn't want to disturb this particular can of invertebrate, limbless burrowing creatures.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I hate to ask/interrupt/disturb etc
▪ Martin I hate to disturb you when you're cooking the books, but there's a delivery.
disturb the peace
▪ Foreigners are seen to contaminate their precious homogeneity and disturb the peace.
▪ Here a total sense of calm prevails and only church bells disturb the peace.
▪ In 1668 he found himself in gaol once again, this time on a charge of disturbing the peace.
▪ Kenneth Jackson's crooning struck a wrong note with police who arrested him for allegedly disturbing the peace.
▪ Riders heard disturbing the peace will have their registrations noted, and these will then be passed on to the police.
▪ She promised herself never again to disturb the peace of this man's life.
▪ The accused batterer was fined $ 150 for disturbing the peace.
▪ When she none the less returned to school, the board president had her arrested for disturbing the peace.
disturbed sleep
▪ Conversely, disturbed sleep patterns can cause periods to become irregular or stop altogether.
▪ Sarah experiences more or less constant pain from a back problem, indigestion, and disturbed sleep.
▪ This may be associated with disturbed sleep and irritability and so the scratching may not be noticed.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Before closing the door to his office, he told his secretary that he was not to be disturbed.
▪ Cutting down rainforests disturbs the Earth's balance.
▪ I got undressed in the bathroom to avoid disturbing her.
▪ I hope my snoring won't disturb you too much.
▪ It is thought that the intruder was disturbed by a barking dog.
▪ Loud frogs are disturbing the sleep of local home owners.
▪ Please avoid disturbing me during the day unless it's an emergency.
▪ Sorry to disturb you, but could I ask a quick question?
▪ The high rate of teenage pregnancy disturbs me a great deal.
▪ Try not to disturb your dad - he's working.
▪ When drying the flowers, be careful not to disturb the petals.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Dash had looked up from his phone one day and seen a growing bureaucracy, and it disturbed him.
▪ Marquez concluded that the generally disturbed conditions were conducive to his plan.
▪ Terris does not seem to mind the electricians who undoubtedly disturb him on his preserve.
▪ The global health scene has been characterised by major steps forward but with some disturbing retrograde features.
▪ The study also showed a disturbing trend in another area: hours worked.
▪ These injuries disturb me, for they indicate that some unorthodox methods were being tried.