Adjacent Words

Deflect definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEFLECT, v.i. [L. To turn or bend.] To turn from or aside; to deviate from a true course or right line; to swerve.
The needle deflects from the meridian.
DEFLECT, v.t. To turn aside; to turn or bend from a right line or regular course.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening; "Let's avoid a confrontation"; "head off a confrontation"; "avert a strike" [syn: debar, forefend, forfend, obviate, deflect, avert, head off, stave off, fend off, avoid, ward off]
2: turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest [syn: deflect, bend, turn away]
3: turn aside and away from an initial or intended course
4: draw someone's attention away from something; "The thief distracted the bystanders"; "He deflected his competitors" [syn: distract, deflect]
5: impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball); "block an attack" [syn: parry, block, deflect]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Latin deflectere to bend down, turn aside, from de- + flectere to bend Date: circa 1555 transitive verb to turn aside especially from a straight course or fixed direction intransitive verb to turn aside ; deviate • deflectable adjective • deflective adjective • deflector noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. bend or turn aside from a straight course or intended purpose. 2 (often foll. by from) a tr. cause to deviate. b intr. deviate. Etymology: L deflectere (as DE-, flectere flex- bend)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deflect De*flect", 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. Sitting with their knees deflected under them. --Lord (1630).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deflect De*flect", v. i. To turn aside; to deviate from a right or a horizontal line, or from a proper position, course or direction; to swerve. At some part of the Azores, the needle deflecteth not, but lieth in the true meridian. --Sir T. Browne. To deflect from the line of truth and reason. --Warburton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(deflects, deflecting, deflected) 1. If you deflect something such as criticism or attention, you act in a way that prevents it from being directed towards you or affecting you. Cage changed his name to deflect accusations of nepotism... It's a maneuver to deflect the attention of the people from what is really happening. VERB: V n, V n from n 2. To deflect someone from a course of action means to make them decide not to continue with it by putting pressure on them or by offering them something desirable. The war did not deflect him from the path he had long ago taken... Never let a little problem deflect you. VERB: V n from n/-ing, V n 3. If you deflect something that is moving, you make it go in a slightly different direction, for example by hitting or blocking it. My forearm deflected most of the first punch. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Deviate, diverge, swerve, turn aside, bend, waver. II. v. a. Bend, turn aside, bend down, press down.

Moby Thesaurus

angle, angle off, anticipate, arch, avert, bar, bear off, bend, bend back, bias, blunt, bow, change, chill, cool, crook, curl, curve, damp, dampen, debar, decurve, deter, deviate, diffract, diffuse, disaffect, discourage, dishearten, disincline, disinterest, disperse, distort, distract, divagate, diverge, divert, dogleg, dome, embow, estop, exclude, fend, fend off, flex, forbid, foreclose, forestall, hairpin, help, hold off, hook, hump, hunch, incurvate, incurve, indispose, inflect, keep from, keep off, loop, oblique, obviate, parry, pivot, preclude, prevent, prohibit, pull, put off, quench, recurve, reflect, reflex, refract, repel, retroflex, round, rule out, sag, save, scatter, sheer, shy, sidetrack, skew, slue, stave off, swag, sway, sweep, swerve, switch, turn, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, twist, vault, veer, volte-face, ward off, warp, wean from, wheel, whip, whirl, wind, zigzag