deflect

[dih-flekt]

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verb (used with or without object)

to bend or turn aside; turn from a true course or straight line; swerve.

Origin of deflect

1545–55; < Latin dēflectere to bend down, turn aside, equivalent to dē- de- + flectere to bend, turn

Related formsde·flect·a·ble, adjectivede·flec·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for deflect

Contemporary Examples of deflect

According to Crawford, Alvarez is “focusing her entire effort publicly on Protess” to deflect attention.
Wrongly Imprisoned for 15 Years Thanks to an Innocence Project
Jacob Siegel
November 13, 2014
Yet, Obama might take some of these military actions anyway just to deflect political pressures at home.
A Winning Strategy for Iraq and Syria
Leslie H. Gelb
June 21, 2014
But when I pulled her toward me to comfort her and tell her that I was sorry, she instinctively flexed her muscles to deflect me.
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach
Tina Traster
May 2, 2014
Creationists need a Muslim hero, and American right-wingers need a “good” Muslim with whom to deflect accusations of Islamophobia.
The Hedonistic, Possibly Holocaust-Denying Sect That’s Hoodwinking Republican Congressmen
Jay Michaelson
April 19, 2014
The impulse would have done nothing to deflect a bullet, which would likely have torn through his arm and into him.
Thank God the Murrysville School Attack Wasn’t Guns
Michael Daly
April 9, 2014

Historical Examples of deflect

Since the affair with Piper he had not, however, again offered to deflect a bat.
Rival Pitchers of Oakdale
Morgan Scott
The novel like its style coloured, but did not deflect, the stream of English literature.
John Lyly
John Dover Wilson
That rebuke of Barber's seemed to deflect Cis's interest from the rooms to herself.
The Rich Little Poor Boy
Eleanor Gates
A soft answer, if soft enough, will deflect the stroke of the sword of justice.
Lady Bountiful
George A. Birmingham
It would have taken more time than we had to deflect us enough to avoid a smash.
Accidental Death
Peter Baily

British Dictionary definitions for deflect

deflect

verb

to turn or cause to turn aside from a course; swerve

Derived Formsdeflector, noun

Word Origin for deflect

C17: from Latin dēflectere, from flectere to bend

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deflect

1550s, from Latin deflectere "to bend (something) aside or downward," from de- "away" (see de-) + flectere "to bend" (see flexible). Originally transitive, the intransitive sense is first recorded 1640s. Related: Deflected; deflecting.