deflect
Other forms: deflected; deflecting; deflects
The verb deflect describes blocking something or changing its course. Hockey goalies deflect the flying puck with their sticks or blockers, making it travel in a different direction, preferably to a teammate's stick.
In a cartoon, a mouse might ask an approaching cat, "Hey, what's that up in the sky?" When the cat looks up, the mouse runs away, successful in his attempt to deflect the cat's attention. When you deflect, you throw someone or something off course, often by using a distraction. Another way to deflect something — such as criticism — is to blame someone else. Eventually the truth, like the cat who quickly sees there's nothing unusual up in the sky, catches up with those who deflect.
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turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest
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turn aside and away from an initial or intended coursetype of:turnchange orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
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prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
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impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball)
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draw someone's attention away from something
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Vocabulary lists containing deflect
In this second book of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, the thirteen-year-old demigod must travel through dangerous waters to save his best friend and retrieve the magical cure for the poison destroying Camp Half-Blood.