distract
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
distract (third-person singular simple present distracts, present participle distracting, simple past and past participle distracted)
- (transitive) To divert the attention of.
- The crowd was distracted by a helicopter hovering over the stadium when the only goal of the game was scored.
- 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1-0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:
- While Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had warned his players against letting the pre-match festivities distract them from the task at hand, they clearly struggled for fluency early on.
- 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65:
- I eschew the idea of plugging in my laptop to take notes and resort to old-fashioned pen and paper instead, so that I can enjoy more of the view and not be distracted by bashing a keyboard.
- (transitive) To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
To divert the attention of
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Adjective[edit]
distract (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Separated; drawn asunder.
- (obsolete) Insane; mad.
- 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 6 p. 3:
- (Alone shee beeing left the spoyle of love and death,
In labour of her griefe outrageously distract,
The utmost of her spleene on her false lord to act)
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Anagrams[edit]
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