digress
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
digress (third-person singular simple present digresses, present participle digressing, simple past and past participle digressed)
- (intransitive) To step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking.
- Holland
- Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.
- John Locke
- In the pursuit of an argument there is hardly room to digress into a particular definition as often as a man varies the signification of any term.
- 1959, Tom Lehrer, “In Old Mexico” (song):
- […] For I hadn't had so much fun since the day / my brother's dog Rover / got run over. / (Rover was killed by a Pontiac. And it was done with such grace and artistry that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail – but I digress.)
- Holland
- (intransitive) To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
- Shakespeare
- Thy abundant goodness shall excuse / This deadly blot on thy digressing son.
- Shakespeare
Synonyms[edit]
- (turn from the course of argument): sidetrack
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to deviate
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