sidetracking
present participle ofsidetrack
sidetrack
verb[Tusually passive]
uk/ˈsaɪd.træk/us/ˈsaɪd.træk/todirecta person'sattentionaway from anactivityorsubjecttowards another one that is lessimportant:
Ruth waslookingfor anenvelopein adrawerwhen she was sidetracked by someoldletters.
Thestudentssidetrackedtheirteacherintotalkingabout herhobby.
I'msorryI'm late - Igotsidetracked.
Compare
digress
Creating a distraction
- distract
- distracting
- distractingly
- distraction
- diversion
- divert
- escape
- mind
- misdirection
- put
- putsomeoneofftheirstrideidiom
- putsomethingoff
- rabbit hole
- sidetrack
- smoke and mirrors
- stride
- subject
- take
- takesomeoneout ofhimself/herself
- takesomeone'smind offsomethingidiom
Examplesofsidetracking
sidetracking
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
I do not believe that bysidetrackingthe schools which are held to be good one will preserve them.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Is he notsidetrackingthe right of the people of this country to express a point of view which is widely felt?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
One of the difficulties is thesidetrackingof the family practitioner that is taking place.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Moreover, he issidetrackingmanagement into having to cope with privatisation when it already has more than enough on its plate.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I hope very much that this will not be a way ofsidetrackingthe problem or shutting the door towards action.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I do not believe in any circumstances insidetrackingthe subject from his right to go to the courts.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
That was a wonderful piece ofsidetracking.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
We are reallysidetrackingthe point.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The column is noted for its length (it often runs over 15 pages in printed form) and frequentsidetrackinginto political and non-football-related discussion.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.