Synonyms

redirect

American

[ree-di-rekt, -dahy-] / ˌri dɪˈrɛkt, -daɪ- /

verb (used with object)

to direct again.
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

Law. pertaining to the examination of a witness by the party who called them, after cross-examination.

redirect British

/ ˌriːdaɪ-, ˌriːdɪˈrɛkt /

verb

to direct (someone or something) to a different place or by a different route

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

redirection

noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of redirect

First recorded in 1835–45; re- + direct

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."

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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.

Other lawmakers can see that signal and redirect their own money toward the colleague under pressure.

From Salon • Jul. 5, 2026

Crews will fly drones into the building to look for hot spots and then redirect their water cannons accordingly, Raabe said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026

Shift unused funds between siblings, redirect money for graduate school, or convert excess to Roth accounts.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

Disruptions in the waterway have pushed major Gulf producers to redirect crude flows away from Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

With all the county’s water mains on emergency shutdown, and endless glitches in the computers trying to redirect what water is left, he’s been transporting water manually to high-priority facilities.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

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