interference Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a policy of intervening in the affairs of other countries
    intervention.
  2. noun the act of hindering or obstructing or impeding
    hinderance; hindrance.
  3. noun electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication
    disturbance; noise.
  4. noun (American football) blocking a player's path with your body
    • he ran interference for the quarterback
  5. noun any obstruction that impedes or is burdensome
    incumbrance; preventative; encumbrance; hitch; hindrance; preventive; hinderance.

WordNet

In`ter*fer"ence noun
Etymology
See Interfere.
Definitions
  1. The act or state of interfering; as, the stoppage of a machine by the interference of some of its parts; a meddlesome interference in the business of others.
  2. (Physics) The mutual influence, under certain conditions, of two streams of light, or series of pulsations of sound, or, generally, two waves or vibrations of any kind, producing certain characteristic phenomena, as colored fringes, dark bands, or darkness, in the case of light, silence or increased intensity in sounds; neutralization or superposition of waves generally. ✍ The term is most commonly applied to light, and the undulatory theory of light affords the proper explanation of the phenomena which are considered to be produced by the superposition of waves, and are thus substantially identical in their origin with the phenomena of heat, sound, waves of water, and the like.
  3. (Patent Law) The act or state of interfering, or of claiming a right to the same invention.

Webster 1913