divert
Americanverb (used with object)
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diverts,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverted,
past participle, past
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diverting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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diverts,
present (3rd person singular)
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diverted,
past participle, past
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diverting
present participle
verb
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to turn (a person or thing) aside from a course; deflect
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(tr) to entertain; amuse
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(tr) to distract the attention of
Synonym Usage
See amuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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diverternoun
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predivertverb (used with object)
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redivertverb (used with object)
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divertibleadjective
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divertingadjective
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divertiveadjective
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undivertedadjective
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undivertibleadjective
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divertedlyadverb
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divertinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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divertsimple
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divertssimple
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have divertedperfect
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has divertedperfect
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am divertingprogressive
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are divertingprogressive
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is divertingprogressive
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have been divertingperfect progressive
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has been divertingperfect progressive
Past
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divertedsimple
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had divertedperfect
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was divertingprogressive
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were divertingprogressive
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had been divertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of divert
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin dīvertere, from dī- di- 2 + vertere “to turn”
Explanation
To divert means to shift or turn from one thing to another. A magician might attempt to divert your attention as he shoves the rabbit into the hat. The police will divert traffic if there has been an accident that blocks the road, and it's a good idea to divert some of your income into a savings account so you don't spend it all. Are you throwing a surprise party for a friend at his house? Have a neighbor divert him for a little while if he comes home early so that you can finish getting ready. While these uses concern physically guiding something to a different location, divert can also be used to mean "distract" or "entertain." If your friend can't stop worrying about her grades, you might want to divert her with the latest school gossip.
Vocabulary lists containing divert
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Coraline
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"South Korea and the United States deploy decoy targets to divert torpedoes, but AI could potentially help distinguish real targets from decoys," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
AirNav Radar, a flight data provider, posted on X that "a passenger window is cracked. Flight deck going through checks before deciding were to divert".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
The moves include a special window to meet the dollar needs of three oil companies—Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum—to divert the firms’ demand away from the forex spot market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Electronic interference can unintentionally divert a target to civilian areas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
To divert himself from the discomfort that Forest had become, he thought about himself as a little boy.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
It is all important work, but police admit that responding to these crimes diverts them away from targeting known vehicle thieves.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
It did strike me as odd, however, that “Tony” is forged on a factual alteration that diverts Tony from the kitchen far too often — the movie’s cardinal sin.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Yet even the best projections can crumble if, say, a parent loses a high-paying job or diverts money from their own retirement account to fund a 529 plan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
As temperatures during a game rise, the circulatory system diverts blood to the skin to lower core body temperatures at the same time that active muscles require oxygen-rich blood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
He diverts off the path, feet disappearing into the drifting clouds of white.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
A tree that wasn’t board-feet of lumber was a waste, a landscape that wasn’t plowed was a waste, a river that wasn’t diverted to irrigate was a waste.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Hundreds of flights were cancelled or diverted because of the storms across northern Europe.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
The airline has repeatedly diverted flights and canceled others at the last minute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
The project, which has an estimated price tag of £33bn, would see hundreds of homes demolished, rivers diverted and the M25 motorway rerouted through a tunnel between junctions 14 and 15.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
However, she was immediately diverted from her investigation by Echo’s gay chatter.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting water from streams that feed the lake, sending it to the City of Angels via its controversial aqueduct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
You talk about taking the slow road to retirement, not diverting down dirt tracks leading you to the Emerald City of AI, and how it seems, well, boring and safe.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
World Vision’s Gaza director, Mohammad Halabi, was arrested by Israeli police in June 2016 and convicted in 2022 for siphoning off up to $50 million and diverting it to Hamas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
TerraWulf, Ionic Digital, Core Scientific, Iris Energy, Bitdeer, Riot Platforms and Hut 8 are just some of the companies increasingly diverting investment and infrastructure from bitcoin mining towards AI.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The emigrants confused the gods by diverting their curses, misleading them with crooked streets and false names.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
