sidetrack
to move or distract from the main subject or course.
to move from the main track to a siding, as a train.
any railroad track, other than a siding, that is auxiliary to the main track.
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.
Origin of sidetrack
1Words Nearby sidetrack
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use sidetrack in a sentence
Next to you is a signal switch that will divert the train down a sidetrack or “spur.”
Would You Kill the Fat Man? And Other Conundrums | Robert Herritt | December 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe'll be coming around to offer to sidetrack that legislation if you'll let him build his railroad.
Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington KellandBut circus er no circus, ye ain't a goin' to sidetrack me out'n them funeral arrangements.
David Lannarck, Midget | George S. HarneyThat's the kind of a sidetrack the Stars and Stripes would switch you onto.'
Roads of Destiny | O. HenryHere on a sidetrack we found small coal-burning engines ready to help us over, small driving wheels but capable of great power.
An Artilleryman's Diary | Jenkin Lloyd Jones
Warring factions all about him, who tried in many ways to sidetrack him, failed in every attempt.
Crayon and Character: Truth Made Clear Through Eye and Ear | B.J. Griswold
British Dictionary definitions for sidetrack
/ (ˈsaɪdˌtræk) /
to distract or be distracted from a main subject or topic
US and Canadian a railway siding
the act or an instance of sidetracking; digression
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
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