interference: Meaning and Definition of

in•ter•fer•ence

1. an act, fact, or instance of interfering.
2. something that interferes.
3. the process in which two or more light, sound, or electromagnetic waves of the same frequency combine to reinforce or cancel each other, the amplitude of the resulting wave being equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the combining waves.
1. a jumbling of radio signals, caused by the reception of undesired ones.
2. the signals or device producing the incoherence.
5. to run interference for the halfback.
1. the act of a teammate or of teammates running ahead of a ball-carrier and blocking prospective tacklers out of the way:to run interference for the halfback.
2. such a teammate or such teammates collectively:to follow one's interference.
3. the act of illegally hindering an opponent from catching a forward pass or a kick.
6. the situation that arises when the aerodynamic influence of one surface of an aircraft conflicts with the influence of another surface.
1. (in bilingualism and foreign-language learning) the overlapping of two languages.
2. deviation from the norm of either language in such a situation.
8. the distorting or inhibiting effect of previously learned behavior on subsequent learning.
9. the forgetting of information or an event due to inability to reconcile it with conflicting information obtained subsequently.
10. to deal with troublesome or time-consuming matters, as for a colleague or supervisor, esp. to forestall problems.