disconnect

/ˌˈdɪskəˌnɛkt/

Other forms: disconnected; disconnecting; disconnects

When you disconnect something, you detach or separate it from something else. If you work plowing driveways during the winter, you need to disconnect the plow from your truck in the spring.

You can disconnect toy train cars, and you can also disconnect your laptop from its charger. In fact, unplugging electrical appliances is another way to disconnect something. Disconnect also means a lack of understanding or connection. So there might be a disconnect between you and your brother, or between what a politician promises to do and what she actually does. Disconnect combines dis-, "the opposite of" with connect, from the Latin conectere, "join together."

Definitions of disconnect

1. verb

   make disconnected, disjoin or unfasten
   antonyms:

   connect

   connect, fasten, or put together two or more pieces

   types:

   decouple, uncouple

   disconnect or separate

   detach

   cause to become detached or separated; take off

   break, break off, snap off

   break a piece from a whole

   unbind

   untie or unfasten

   unhook

   take off a hook

   type of:

   disunite, divide, part, separate

   force, take, or pull apart
2. verb

   pull the plug of (electrical appliances) and render inoperable
   synonyms: unplug

   type of:

   undo

   cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect
3. noun

   an unbridgeable disparity (as from a failure of understanding)
   “there is a vast disconnect between public opinion and federal policy”

   synonyms: chasm, disconnection, gulf

   type of:

   disparity

   inequality or difference in some respect