divert - Definition & Meaning

divert

Third Person

diverts

Present Participle

diverting

Past Tense

diverted

Past Participle

diverted

to change direction or take a different course

Road construction forced the city buses to divert from their usual route.
The river diverts to the east before reaching the main channel.
The protest march had to divert around a street closure.
The airplane's flight path had to divert slightly to avoid a flock of birds in its trajectory.
In response to unexpected obstacles on the hiking trail, the group decided to divert and explore a nearby clearing.

Synonyms:

to engage or occupy someone in an amusing or enjoyable manner

transitive

The magician's tricks were so captivating that they diverted the children for hours.
While the children were diverted by the magician's tricks, some parents felt the performance was too repetitive.
The music festival featured a variety of talented artists that could divert any music enthusiast.

Synonyms:

to cause someone or something to change direction

transitive

The river's unexpected flooding prompted the emergency response team to divert residents to safer areas.
Air traffic control had to divert several incoming flights to different runways.
The hiking trail was temporarily closed, so the park rangers diverted visitors to alternative paths.
To avoid a collision, the pilot had to make a quick decision to divert the aircraft away from another plane in its path.
The marathon route was diverted through scenic neighborhoods to showcase more of the city's landmarks.

to redirect money, materials, or resources from their original intended purpose to another use

transitive

The company decided to divert funds from marketing to research and development.
Due to the emergency, they had to divert the supplies meant for the original project to disaster relief efforts.
Instead of vacationing abroad, they decided to divert their travel budget to home improvements.

to distract or shift someone's attention or focus away from something

transitive

The entertaining movie was enough to divert my attention from the stressful day.
His clever jokes were meant to divert the team's focus during the tense meeting.
It's essential to divert the children's attention from the dangerous situation.

to arrange for incoming telephone calls to be redirected to another number

transitive

She decided to divert her business calls to her colleague's phone while she was on vacation.
In case of an emergency, you can divert the calls to the on-call technician.
Please divert my calls to the office landline during the conference.