perturb

perturb

Pronunciation: ⁄pəˈtəːb⁄

verb

[with object]

·              1make (someone) anxious or unsettled:

they were perturbed by her capricious behaviour

[with object and clause]:he was perturbed that his bleeper wouldn’t work

·              2subject (a system, moving object, or process) to an influence tending to alter its normal or regular state or path:

nuclear weapons could be used to perturb the orbit of an asteroid