sidetrack
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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sidetracks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sidetracked,
past participle, past
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sidetracking
present participle
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to move or distract from the main subject or course.
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to move from the main track to a siding, as a train.
noun
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sidetracks
plural
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any railroad track, other than a siding, that is auxiliary to the main track.
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a path, position, project, topic, etc., of less importance than the main one.
On a sidetrack to this thread on workplace safety, let me just say a little about office footwear.
verb
noun
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a railway siding
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the act or an instance of sidetracking; digression
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sidetracksimple
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sidetrackssimple
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have sidetrackedperfect
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has sidetrackedperfect
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am sidetrackingprogressive
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are sidetrackingprogressive
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is sidetrackingprogressive
-
have been sidetrackingperfect progressive
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has been sidetrackingperfect progressive
Past
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sidetrackedsimple
-
had sidetrackedperfect
-
was sidetrackingprogressive
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were sidetrackingprogressive
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had been sidetrackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sidetrack
Explanation
To sidetrack is to veer off a straight path, or to cause something (or someone) to do so. The smell of a rabbit in the woods might sidetrack your dog from coming when you call him. In addition to literally wandering off course, sidetrack can also be used figuratively, when someone gets distracted from a task or focus, like when your text messages sidetrack you from finishing your homework. You can sidetrack a conversation, too, by controlling it and steering it in a new direction: "She always sidetracks the conversation so we end up talking about television."
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:
He turned down assisting a professor with data analysis for a book, for instance, because it would have required substantial changes to his class schedule that would sidetrack his early graduation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
When Devi tries to sidetrack Dr. Ryan, she pivots the conversation.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2023
A chorus of economists, including Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary, say the banking sector instability should not sidetrack the Fed in its inflation-fighting campaign.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
“Don’t let short-term volatility sidetrack your goal and strategy to achieve long-term gains,” Burley said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2022
She didn’t want the movement to be distracted by any issues that could interfere with or sidetrack the mission.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
He wants them amped up for when he faces jeopardy in criminal trials or if something sidetracks his nomination.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2023
“I hate spending energy and time on this kind of stuff because I feel like it sidetracks us,” state Sen. Shane Morigeau, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said Thursday.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 6, 2023
If the virus surges again, “it can’t be the kind of thing that sidetracks the country,” said Andy Slavitt, who served as a senior adviser on the response before stepping down last year.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2022
"I don't think upward movement in interest rates alone is going to be the catalyst that sidetracks the M&A market," said Morgan Stanley's Miles.
From Reuters ● Dec. 20, 2021
He wanted to ignore it, to go his own way apart, like a casual pilgrim down the forsaken sidetracks.
From England, My England by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Don’t get sidetracked by products that you don’t fully understand.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
But Ravichandran sees a chance that satellite companies get sidetracked and develop products aimed at deep-pocketed defense customers at the expense of other opportunities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
The U.S. economy got sidetracked in February by tariff-related price increases, sluggish sales and the previous month’s Winter Storm Fern, but top executives were also more optimistic that business will improve later in the year.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026
Ellis says this narrative plays out in the film - Folarin works so much that he becomes "neglectful and sidetracked".
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
And each time I was about to call an end to the chaos, I got sidetracked by exigent cries of “R-and-W, center gate!”
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Attention then lurched to another hot-button environmental issue — the world’s largest dam removal on the Elwha River — further sidetracking efforts to extend wilderness areas.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
Arano was a standout prospect for the Philadelphia Phillies, thrived in 60 appearances in 2018, then hurt his elbow in April 2019, sidetracking his career.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2022
A dozen ways of diverting, sidetracking, or derailing the conversation came to mind, yet somehow Nadine heard herself confessing to these people that Mercury’s funds were limited.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2020
“People did it for me,” he says before sidetracking into bafflement over what GIF means.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2020
We called them tenderfeet, that day when Mr. Blake honored our county seat by sidetracking his palatial car.
From Out of the Depths A Romance of Reclamation by George Brehm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
