[syn: perturb, unhinge, disquiet, trouble, cark, distract, disorder]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Distract \Dis*tract"\, a. [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to
draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf.
Distraught.]
1. Separated; drawn asunder. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
2. Insane; mad. [Obs.] --Drayton.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Distract \Dis*tract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distracted, old p.
p. Distraught; p. pr. & vb. n. Distracting.]
1. To draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin.
[1913 Webster]
A city . . . distracted from itself. --Fuller.
[1913 Webster]
2. To draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different
directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the
eye; to distract the attention.
[1913 Webster]
Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination.
--Goldsmith.
[1913 Webster]
3. To agitate by conflicting passions, or by a variety of
motives or of cares; to confound; to harass.
[1913 Webster]
Horror and doubt distract
His troubled thoughts. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
4. To unsettle the reason of; to render insane; to craze; to
madden; -- most frequently used in the participle,
distracted.
[1913 Webster]
A poor mad soul; . . . poverty hath distracted her.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
distract
v 1: draw someone's attention away from something; "The thief
distracted the bystanders"; "He deflected his competitors"
[syn: distract, deflect]
2: disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or
alarmed; "She was rather perturbed by the news that her
father was seriously ill" [syn: perturb, unhinge,
disquiet, trouble, cark, distract, disorder]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
80 Moby Thesaurus words for "distract":
absorb, addle, agitate, amuse, ball up, befuddle, beguile, bemuse,
bewilder, blunt, bother, bug, call away, chill, confound, confuse,
convulse, cool, craze, damp, dampen, daze, deflect, delight,
dement, derange, deter, detract, detract attention, disaffect,
discompose, disconcert, discourage, disincline, disinterest,
disturb, divert, divert the mind, drive insane, drive mad, embroil,
engross, entertain, fluster, frenzy, fuddle, gratify, indispose,
interest, mad, madden, make mad, mix up, mystify, occupy, perplex,
perturb, psych, put off, puzzle, quench, rattle, repel, send mad,
shatter, sidetrack, spook, throw, throw into confusion, throw off,
trouble, turn aside, turn away, turn from, turn off, unbalance,
unhinge, unsettle, upset, wean from