Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Distraction
Dis-trac′tion
,Noun.
[L.
distractio
: cf. F. distraction
.] 1.
The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation.
To create
distractions
among us. Bp. Burnet.
2.
That which diverts attention; a diversion.
“Domestic distractions.” G. Eliot.
3.
A diversity of direction; detachment.
[Obs.]
His power went out in such
Beguiled all species.
distractions
asBeguiled all species.
Shakespeare
4.
State in which the attention is called in different ways; confusion; perplexity.
That ye may attend upon the Lord without
distraction
. 1 Cor. vii. 35.
5.
Confusion of affairs; tumult; disorder;
as, political
. distractions
Never was known a night of such
distraction
. Dryden.
6.
Agitation from violent emotions; perturbation of mind; despair.
The
distraction
of the children, who saw both their parents together, would have melted the hardest heart. Tatler.
Syn. – Perplexity; confusion; disturbance; disorder; dissension; tumult; derangement; madness; raving; franticness; furiousness.
Webster 1828 Edition
Distraction
DISTRACTION
,Noun.
1.
The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation.2.
Confusion from a multiplicity of objects crowding on the mind and calling the attention different ways; perturbation of mind; perplexity; as, the family was in a state of distraction. [See 1 Corinthians 7.]3.
Confusion of affairs; tumult; disorder; as political distractions.Never was known a night of such distraction.
4.
Madness; a state of disordered reason; franticness; furiousness. [We usually apply this word to a state of derangement which produces raving and violence in the patient.]5.
Folly in the extreme, or amounting to insanity.On the supposition of the truth of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, irreligion is nothing better than distraction.
Definition 2024
distraction
distraction
English
Noun
distraction (plural distractions)
- Something that distracts.
- 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
- “… This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. I am sure, Lord Stranleigh, that he has been descanting on the distraction of the woods and the camp, or perhaps the metropolitan dissipation of Philadelphia, …”
- Poking one's eye is a good distraction from a hurting toe.
-
- The process of being distracted.
- 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
- The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about "creating compelling content", or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing", […] and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
- We have to reduce distraction in class if we want students to achieve good results.
-
- Perturbation; disorder; disturbance; confusion.
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
- It's true that the Copernican Systeme introduceth distraction in the universe of Aristotle.
- 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
- Mental disorder; a deranged state of mind; insanity.
- The incessant nightmares drove him to distraction.
- Richard Baxter
- […] if he speak the words of an oath in a strange language, thinking they signify something else, or if he spake in his sleep, or deliration, or distraction, it is no oath, and so not obligatory.
Translations
something that distracts
|
|
the process of being distracted
|
|
References
- J[ohn] A. Simpson and E[dward] S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8.
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin distractiō, distractiōnem.
Pronunciation
Noun
distraction f (plural distractions)