DIVERT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does divert mean? 

• DIVERT (verb)
  The verb DIVERT has 4 senses:

1. turn aside; turn away from

2. send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one

3. occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion

4. withdraw (money) and move into a different location, often secretly and with dishonest intentions

  Familiarity information: DIVERT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIVERT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they divert    ... he / she / it diverts   
Past simple: diverted   
Past participle: diverted   
-ing form: diverting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Turn aside; turn away from

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

deviate; divert

Hypernyms (to "divert" is one way to...):

turn (change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divert"):

yaw (deviate erratically from a set course)

detour (travel via a detour)

depart; digress; sidetrack; straggle (wander from a direct or straight course)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

diversion (a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "divert" is one way to...):

direct; send (cause to go somewhere)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divert"):

route (divert in a specified direction)

deviate (cause to turn away from a previous or expected course)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

amuse; disport; divert

Context example:

The play amused the ladies

Hypernyms (to "divert" is one way to...):

entertain (provide entertainment for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to divert Sue

Derivation:

diversion (an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Withdraw (money) and move into a different location, often secretly and with dishonest intentions

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

divert; hive off

Hypernyms (to "divert" is one way to...):

draw; draw off; take out; withdraw (remove (a commodity) from (a supply source))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Then a change in their position diverted him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The bright clouds form when the flow of ambient air is perturbed and diverted upward over the dark vortex, causing gases to likely freeze into methane ice crystals.

(Hubble Imagery Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune, NASA)

This approach would also help keep carbon out of the atmosphere by diverting timber away from being burnt as fuel.

(Visualising heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, University of Cambridge)

I have felt it to be a sacrilege to divert a brain which is capable of the highest original research to any lesser object.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Diverting a small percentage of a country’s fish catch into local communities would make a huge difference to nutrition, the study’s authors say.

(Fairer fish trade could fix nutrient deficiencies in coastal countries, SciDev.Net)

The bright clouds form when the flow of ambient air is perturbed and diverted upward over the dark vortex, causing gases to freeze into methane ice crystals.

(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)

Another day, Glumdalclitch left me on a smooth grass-plot to divert myself, while she walked at some distance with her governess.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies, do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

That she would never waver in it, never be diverted from it, never relinquish it, while there was any chance of hope.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She was really hungry, so the chicken and tarts served to divert her attention for a time.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)