distract
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /dɪsˈtɹækt/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ækt
Verb
editdistract (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
editTranslations
editTo divert the attention of
|
Adjective
editdistract (not comparable) (obsolete)
- Drawn asunder; separated.
- Insane, mad.
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 274, column 2:
- Ol[ivia]. […] Fetch Maluolio hither, / And yet alas, novv I remember me, / They ſay poore Gentleman, he's much diſtract. […] Did he vvrite this? / Clo[wn]. I [aye] Madame. / Du[ke Orsino]. This ſauours not much of diſtraction.
- 1612, Michael Drayton, “The Sixt Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, published 1613, →OCLC, page 90:
- Alone ſhee beeing left the ſpoyle of loue and death, / In labour of her griefe outrageouſly diſtract, / The utmoſt of her ſpleene on her falſe Lord to act […]
See also
editAnagrams
editCategories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ækt
- Rhymes:English/ækt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English obsolete terms