derail
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French dérailler (“to go off the rails”).
Pronunciation
Noun
derail (plural derails)
- A device placed on railway tracks causing a train to derail.
- The derail was placed deliberately so that the train would fall into the river.
- An instance of diverting a conversation or debate from its original topic.
Verb
derail (third-person singular simple present derails, present participle derailing, simple past and past participle derailed)
- (transitive) To cause to come off the tracks.
- The train was destroyed when it was derailed by the penny.
- (intransitive) To come off the tracks.
- (intransitive, figurative) To deviate from the previous course or direction.
- The conversation derailed once James brought up politics.
- (transitive, figurative) To cause to deviate from a set course or direction.
- The protesting students derailed the professor's lecture.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:derail.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to come off the tracks
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to deviate from the previous course or direction
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to cause to deviate from a set course or direction
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