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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
deflect
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
attention
▪ They could deflect attention from the bride.
▪ Right from the start he wanted me out of the film, because he felt I was deflecting attention away from him.
▪ It has deflected attention from our own deficiencies and the mess of the pound.
▪ Concentration in the literature on productivity growth tends to deflect attention from absolute differences in productivity.
▪ Noting this possibility, Kasparov starts a diversion to deflect White's attention towards the other wing.
▪ A pseudo pawn sacrifice seeking to deflect White's attention from the black king, but Kasparov is not to be deterred.
▪ To begin with, Sarah Ferguson deflected the attentions of the media too.
blow
▪ He deflected the blow, and the razor edge cut deep into the gunwale of the ship.
▪ Scathach pushed her away, turning her in time to deflect the blow from another raider.
▪ As the knife flashed down, aimed at his heart, Connor deflected the blow with his left forearm.
criticism
▪ The Central Authority were, however, able to continue to deflect this criticism.
▪ While helping Johnson to deflect criticism from conservatives, Hoover expanded the mission of his agency in the domestic arena.
▪ He frequently attempted to deflect criticism of his administration and personal life by characterizing such allegations as the product of white racism.
▪ The newly appointed finance minister, Wataru Kubo, is expected to deflect opposition criticism over the housing lender bailout.
■ VERB
try
▪ When the alkaline battery is tried the needle will deflect much further and hold there.
▪ Standing on the streets of Lawrence last week, he tried to deflect some of the praise being heaped on him.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The Stealth bomber is designed to deflect radar waves, making it "invisible."
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And the chairman had occasionally to be very adept at deflecting any risk of libel!
▪ Eisenhower could not so easily deflect a response to state defiance.
▪ It changes, and can be deflected by the least puff of wind.
▪ One effort hit the bar and the other brought out a fine save from Burridge after deflecting off Payton.
▪ The win featured a 15-yard bicycle-kick by Hayden Brown off a deflected corner kick.
▪ Then, just as he responds, pull back out of range, deflecting his technique and countering.
▪ While helping Johnson to deflect criticism from conservatives, Hoover expanded the mission of his agency in the domestic arena.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
deflect

deflect \de*flect"\ (d[-e]*fl[e^]kt"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Deflecting.] [L. deflectere; de- + flectere to bend or turn. See Flexible.] To cause to turn aside; to bend; as, rays of light are often deflected; to deflect a punch; to deflect criticism by acknowledging a mistake.

Sitting with their knees deflected under them.
--Lord (1630).

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
deflect

1550s, from Latin deflectere "to bend (something) aside or downward," from de- "away" (see de-) + flectere "to bend" (see flexible). Originally transitive, the intransitive sense is first recorded 1640s. Related: Deflected; deflecting.

Wiktionary
deflect

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To make (something) deviate from its original path. 2 (context intransitive English) To deviate from its original path. 3 (context transitive figuratively English) To avoid addressing ''(questions, criticism, etc.).'' 4 (context transitive figuratively English) To divert ''(attention, etc.).''

WordNet
deflect
  1. v. prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" [syn: debar, obviate, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, avoid, ward off]

  2. turn from a straight course , fixed direction, or line of interest [syn: bend, turn away]

  3. turn aside [syn: deviate]

  4. draw someone's attention away from something; "The thief distracted the bystanders"; "He deflected his competitors" [syn: distract]

  5. impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball); "block an attack" [syn: parry, block]

Usage examples of "deflect".

Reflectively she threw away the energy, deflecting it out across the amphitheater in gigantic dragon tongues of destruction.

After 3 additional hours terminal portion deflected at right angles from the perpendicular.

Jake could see the two of them huddled like thieves on the bridge, plotting every detail of the antismoking campaign and the subsequent disinformation cover-up to deflect the outrage of the addicted.

Delphaeic spell that would normally imprint your features on her own face, but just as she releases her spell, I release a Styric one that deflects the spell to Berit instead.

Obi-Wan, out on the edge of the collection panel, hunching under a curve of durasteel that splashed aside gouts of lava, deflecting Force blasts and countering strikes from this creature of rage that had been his best friend, suddenly comprehended an unexpectedly profound truth.

They were a little boxier, the armor not well sloped to deflect a shell.

His falling short of these ideals shows that someone as unstinting in the free pursuit of knowledge as Broca could still be deflected by endemic and respectable bigotry.

She closed on the hit man and swung the machete, her blade deflecting the Bushmaster barrel to the right.

Sefris extracted a chakram from its pocket, charged the shed, and sprang through the doorway, hands poised to deflect a missile or blade.

Then the usual obligatory introductions and sugary compliments and aggravating politenesses, and over an hour of back and forth, of demands calmly deflected, ponderous arguments, delays requested, astonishment where none was merited, questions needing to be repeated, facts dismissed, the truth disregarded--alibis, explanations, rationalizations, excuses, all courteously delivered.

There was little room for maneuver now, and the hammers of the ogres were hard for even dragon shields to deflect.

I stepped in to meet him, deflecting his attacks with wing blocks and butterfly kicks and using knee and elbows to take him down.

The Mec fired on her, but her shields easily deflected it, and it took only moments to overpower its computer as well.

Galileo deflected their slurs with humor: Learning of the death of one such opponent in December 1610, he wished aloud that the professor, having ignored the Medicean stars during his time on Earth, might now encounter them en route to Heaven.

It was silent in the Chunatas, the noise of the megacity deflected by the foothills, a condition matching the land behind Randtown.