divert

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /daɪˈvɜːt/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /daɪˈvɝt/ or /dɪˈvɝt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

Plain form divert

Third-person singular diverts

Past tense diverted

Past participle diverted

Present participle diverting

1. (transitive & intransitive) If you divert something, you change its path or flow so that it avoids a place it would have gone.
   • Synonyms: redirect, turn away, switch, avert and deflect

   The news release about the new funding was an attempt to divert attention from the government's problems.

   Money and resources were diverted from education into the war effort.

   The farmers were diverting water from the river.

   The Toronto-bound flight diverted to New York.

2. (transitive) If you try to divert someone, you try to amuse them.

Related words

• diversion
• avert
• invert
• pervert
• revert
• subvert