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Distract

//dɪˈstɹækt// adj, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Drawn asunder; separated. not-comparable, obsolete
  2. 2
    Insane, mad. not-comparable, obsolete

    "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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To divert the attention of. transitive

    "The crowd was distracted by a helicopter hovering over the stadium when the only goal of the game was scored."

  2. 2
    disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed wordnet
  3. 3
    To divert (attention). transitive

    "It is recorded in the Talmud that there was no water organ [...] at the Temple, because of its sweet and powerful voice which was able to distract attention from the traditional instruments."

  4. 4
    draw someone's attention away from something wordnet
  5. 5
    To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction. transitive

    "By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs, Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).

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