Crossword clues for sidetrack
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sidetrack \Side"track`\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sidetracked; p. pr. & vb. n. Sidetracking.]
(Railroads) To transfer to a siding from a main line of track.
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Hence, fig., to divert or reduce to a position or condition that is relatively secondary or subordinate in activity, importance, effectiveness, or the like; to switch off; to turn aside, as from a purpose. [Colloq.]
Such a project was, in fact, sidetracked in favor of the census of school children.
--Pop. Sci. Monthly.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
alt. 1 (context rail transport English) A second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a siding. 2 (sometimes) Any auxiliary railroad track, as ''differentiated'' from a siding, that runs adjacent to the main track. 3 (context mining English) A smaller tunnel or well drilled as an auxiliary off a main tunnel or well. 4 An alternate train of thought, issue, topic, or activity, that is a deviation or distraction from the topic at hand or central activity, and secondary or subordinate in importance or effectiveness. n. 1 (context rail transport English) A second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a siding. 2 (sometimes) Any auxiliary railroad track, as ''differentiated'' from a siding, that runs adjacent to the main track. 3 (context mining English) A smaller tunnel or well drilled as an auxiliary off a main tunnel or well. 4 An alternate train of thought, issue, topic, or activity, that is a deviation or distraction from the topic at hand or central activity, and secondary or subordinate in importance or effectiveness. vb. 1 To divert (a locomotive) on to a lesser used track in order to allow other trains to pass. 2 To divert or distract (someone) from a main issue or course of action with an alternate or less relevant topic or activity; or, to use deliberate trickery or sly wordplay when talking to (a person) in order to avoid discussion of a subject. 3 To sideline; to push aside; to divert or distract from, reducing (something) to a secondary or subordinate position. 4 (context intransitive English) To deviate briefly from the topic at hand.
WordNet
Wikipedia
A sidetrack is a railroad track other than siding that is auxiliary to the main track. The word is also used as a verb (without object) to refer to the movement of trains and railcars from the main track to a siding, and in common parlance to refer to giving in to distractions apart from a main subject. Sidetracks are used by railroads to order and organize the flow of rail traffic.
A sidetrack is a railroad track that is auxiliary to the main track.
Sidetrack may also refer to:
- Sidetrack (G.I. Joe), a fictional character in the G.I. Joe universe
- Sidetrack (Transformers), a fictional character in the Transformers universe
- Sidetrack Bar & Grill, a bar & restaurant in Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Sidetrack Films, a film production company based out of Brooklyn, New York
Usage examples of "sidetrack".
The swift run could not be made, and the train kept running without a stop, if it were not for the fact that the despatcher puts trains on the sidetrack so that the special need not be delayed, and he does it in such a manner that the regular business of the road shall not be interfered with.
Never before had he been able to comprehend a man as brilliant as Galois letting himself get sidetracked from his real work long enough to become involved in such an idiotic thing as a duel over a woman.
The population of the town itself ran about three-fourths white, one-fourth Native, mostly Yupik, with some Inupiaq transplants from up north, some Aleut transplants from down south, and one lone Tlingit family that got sidetracked during a move from Sitka to Nome back in the fifties, homesteaded a hundred and sixty acres twenty miles up the Icky road, and never left.
He had been sidetracked by his need to make money, distracted by the fuss of living, misrouted from his original goal.
When Lord Varek was asked why they had allowed themselves to be sidetracked to Remagev, he replied that Stronghold was not the objective.
It had a lot of rabbit genes to enable it to survive in its sparse environmentits "hooves" still retained vestigial claws from the toes they were derived from, and its "horns" were sidetracked bicuspids, channeled up through the skulland its breathing apparatus owed a lot to porpoises.
French had battled on, determined to declare a winner among the five burgundies, though he was so sidetracked with Dyloft his heart wasn't in it.
Sanglier understood, too, after a slightly longer explanation, and agreed because he had no alternative, even though it would be condoning the computer illegality for which he'd sidetracked Claudine and the German.
Desie attended Georgia State University with the plan of becoming a school-teacher but was sidetracked in her senior year by her engagement to a professional basketball player named Gorbak Didovlic, who stood a shade over seven feet tall and spoke no English.
I imagine that has something to do with the way I feel, and my inability to write, but--but I'm getting off on a sidetrack.
Those plans had been somewhat sidetracked two decades ago when the Pahkwa-thanh had joined the Federation and a whole new hunting ground of alien diseases had been opened to him, daring him to chase them down and wrestle them into submission.
Sometimes it was a monthly, if Dave got sidetracked by other interests (maple-sugaring, cider-making, rocket-building, and car-customizing, just to name a few), and then there would be jokes I didn't understand about how Dave's Rag was a little late this month or how we shouldn't bother Dave, because he was down in the basement, on the Rag.
The original plan was to channel John the Baptist, but somewhere it all got sidetracked and the subject recited passages from the Bible, claiming to be one of the twelve disciples.