sidetrack
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He turned down assisting a professor with data analysis for a book, for instance, because it would have required substantial changes to his class schedule that would sidetrack his early graduation.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
When Devi tries to sidetrack Dr. Ryan, she pivots the conversation.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2023
At least one powerful general tried to sidetrack it, Mr. Hammond told the Boston Globe in 1989, but he declined to name him.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2022
Georgieva told a conference in Washington that policymakers should adopt targeted measures to alleviate rising food and fuel prices, while avoiding steps that could fuel inflation or sidetrack monetary policy.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2022
Feeling the body, but not using it to sidetrack the mind.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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He wants them amped up for when he faces jeopardy in criminal trials or if something sidetracks his nomination.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2023
“I hate spending energy and time on this kind of stuff because I feel like it sidetracks us,” state Sen. Shane Morigeau, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said Thursday.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 6, 2023
If the virus surges again, “it can’t be the kind of thing that sidetracks the country,” said Andy Slavitt, who served as a senior adviser on the response before stepping down last year.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2022
"I don't think upward movement in interest rates alone is going to be the catalyst that sidetracks the M&A market," said Morgan Stanley's Miles.
From Reuters ● Dec. 20, 2021
"Two sidetracks and switches already up!" called Harry.
From The Young Engineers in Colorado Or, At Railwood Building in Earnest by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
The two started an exchange about their respective career paths, but Danielle got sidetracked and left Drew hanging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The U.S. economy got sidetracked in February by tariff-related price increases, sluggish sales and the previous month’s Winter Storm Fern, but top executives were also more optimistic that business will improve later in the year.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026
Ellis says this narrative plays out in the film - Folarin works so much that he becomes "neglectful and sidetracked".
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
This, of course, means he can also get easily sidetracked, but it’s “one of the beauties of making music on your own.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
He did not want to be sidetracked again, and only grudgingly made his way back through the snow toward her.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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Attention then lurched to another hot-button environmental issue — the world’s largest dam removal on the Elwha River — further sidetracking efforts to extend wilderness areas.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
A dozen ways of diverting, sidetracking, or derailing the conversation came to mind, yet somehow Nadine heard herself confessing to these people that Mercury’s funds were limited.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2020
“People did it for me,” he says before sidetracking into bafflement over what GIF means.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2020
Chamber of Commerce international economics head Myron Brilliant — that the two sides have set up a separate working group to help avoid sidetracking the rest of the discussion.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2013
From what he had heard of human prisoners, he'd guessed that sidetracking Steve's train of thought might help; it seemed to have worked.
From Fearful Symmetry A Terran Empire novel by Wilson, Ann