Raised with the interrupt signal is received, typically because the user pressed on Control-C (on most posix platforms). As such, it is a subclass of SignalException.

begin
  puts "Press ctrl-C when you get bored"
  loop {}
rescue Interrupt => e
  puts "Note: You will typically use Signal.trap instead."
end

produces:

Press ctrl-C when you get bored

then waits until it is interrupted with Control-C and then prints:

Note: You will typically use Signal.trap instead.