perturb

perturb
    v 1: disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or
         alarmed; "She was rather perturbed by the news that her
         father was seriously ill" [syn: {perturb}, {unhinge},
         {disquiet}, {trouble}, {cark}, {distract}, {disorder}]
    2: disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or
       atom; "The electrons were perturbed by the passing ion"
    3: cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically
       regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed
       or extraordinary gravitational pull; "The orbits of these
       stars were perturbed by the passings of a comet"
    4: throw into great confusion or disorder; "Fundamental
       Islamicists threaten to perturb the social order in Algeria
       and Egypt" [syn: {perturb}, {derange}, {throw out of kilter}]
    

Perturb \Per*turb"\, v. t. [L. perturbare, perturbatum; per +
   turbare to disturb, fr. turba a disorder: cf. OF. perturber.
   See {Per-}, and {Turbid}.]
   1. To disturb; to agitate; to vex; to trouble; to disquiet.
      [1913 Webster]

            Ye that . . . perturb so my feast with crying.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To disorder; to confuse. [R.] --Sir T. Browne.
      [1913 Webster]
    

110 Moby Thesaurus words for "perturb":
      abash, addle, addle the wits, afflict, agitate, ail, alarm,
      ball up, be the matter, beat, beat up, becloud, bedazzle, befuddle,
      beset, bewilder, bother, bug, burden, churn, churn up, cloud,
      complicate matters, concern, confuse, convulse, daze, dazzle,
      disarrange, discombobulate, discomfit, discomfort, discommode,
      discompose, disconcert, dishevel, dismay, disorder, disorganize,
      disorient, disquiet, distract, distress, disturb, electrify,
      embarrass, embroil, entangle, excite, ferment, flummox, flurry,
      fluster, flutter, fog, fret, fuddle, fuss, harass, inconvenience,
      irk, jar, jolt, jumble, knock galley-west, load with care, maze,
      mist, mix up, moider, muddle, paddle, perplex, perturbate, plague,
      pother, psych, put out, put to it, puzzle, raise hell, rattle,
      rile, ripple, rock, roil, roughen, ruffle, rumple, shake, shake up,
      shock, spook, stagger, stir, stir up, swirl, throw,
      throw into confusion, torment, trouble, unnerve, unsettle, upset,
      vex, whip, whip up, whisk, work up, worry