redirect
Americanverb (used with object)
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redirects,
present (3rd person singular)
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redirected,
past participle, past
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redirecting
present participle
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to direct again.
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to change the direction or focus of.
He redirected the children's energies toward building a sand castle instead of throwing sand at each other.
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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redirectsimple
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redirectssimple
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have redirectedperfect
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has redirectedperfect
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am redirectingprogressive
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are redirectingprogressive
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is redirectingprogressive
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have been redirectingperfect progressive
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has been redirectingperfect progressive
Past
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redirectedsimple
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had redirectedperfect
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was redirectingprogressive
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were redirectingprogressive
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had been redirectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of redirect
Explanation
When you redirect something, you point it in a different direction. If your dog keeps licking your friends' knees, you might have to redirect her attention to a squeaky toy. Beavers can famously redirect the flow of water in a stream or river by building dams that divert the flow in a new direction. The very best elementary school teachers are experts at redirecting the attention of young kids, like when a music teacher redirects a class's energy into an enthusiastic round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." The direct part of redirect comes from the Latin dirigere, "set straight."
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:
A chip that performs well on selected tasks is useful, but its negotiating value depends on how much spending Microsoft can realistically redirect.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
But I’d like to gently intercept your hand on the way there and redirect it toward wherever you keep your vinegar.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
The public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal is administered by Services Australia, the main hub to redirect users to government services.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The resulting effect became strong enough to redirect the probe beam.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
“They’ll do that...that thing they do where they just redirect us around a train.”
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Joan Bosch, Eala’s coach since 2023, said Eala’s game translates naturally to grass because she absorbs and redirects pace so effectively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Software stocks could recover by developing their own AI products or if a slowdown in AI infrastructure spending redirects investment back to the sector.
From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026
A button redirects users to an Uber webpage to book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Effective leadership redirects that attention outward toward customers, purpose and shared impact.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 18, 2025
It redirects our attention to the great source and fountainhead of human life.
From The Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger
That result redirected their attention toward the axon's physical properties.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
Some capacity could be redirected toward safety testing, improving models and serving customers, but those workloads may not replace curtailed frontier training dollar for dollar.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The fund follows William's decision to stop personally benefiting from the £1.5m annual rent generated by Dartmoor Prison, with the funding redirected into the local community.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Locals redirected the Allies to nearby Licata and told them about “beach minefields, maritime conditions, and port-installation booby traps.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
At a girls’ school a certain amount of emotional energy, normally expended on boys, gets redirected into friendships.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
IBM’s near-total dominance of an obscure but important corner of tech hasn’t made it immune to customers redirecting their IT budgets toward memory and storage chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
The prime minister's spokesman insisted the policy would be funded by redirecting "savings" identified by departments to cover the cost of the ID scheme.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
These actions included things like changing the title on bank accounts and other property, redirecting household bills, canceling credit cards, consolidating retirement accounts, making Roth conversions and giving away money.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The city has “exceeded expectations” in food recovery, he said, saving 80 million meals that would have been thrown out and redirecting them to people in need.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
“It’s lucky for us you happened to die,” Minya said, redirecting herself at the ghost.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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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.
