off the track

Idioms

Away from one's objective, train of thought, or a sequence of events, It is often put as, as in Your question has gotten me off the track, or The interruption threw Mom off the track and she forgot what she'd already put into the stew. This term comes from railroading, where it means “derailed.” Its figurative use was first recorded in 1875.

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.

Images circulating on social media showed the truck performing a wheelie before swerving off the track and crashing into the barriers separating the public from the track.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

A title favorite this year from Unitree, one of China’s top humanoid-robot makers, collapsed several times and was taken off the track on a stretcher, leaving the race unfinished.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Now he’s pulled off the track equivalent with the announcement that 2024 Olympian Quincy Wilson, from Bullis School in Potomac, Md., is coming on April 11 to compete at the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2026

I was going to go off the track.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

Coach made a hard left off the track and started walking across the grass.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023