Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation.
- n. Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.
- n. A maneuver that draws the attention of an opponent away from a planned point of action, especially as part of military strategy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of turning aside from a course; a turning into a different direction or to a different point or destination: as, the diversion of a stream from its usual channel; the diversion of the mind from business or study, or to another object.
- n. That which diverts; that which turns something from its proper or natural course or tendency; specifically, that which turns or draws the mind from care, business, or study, and thus rests and amuses; sport; play; pastime: as, the diversions of youth; works of wit and humor furnish an agreeable diversion to the studious.
- n. The act of drawing the attention and force of an enemy from the point where the principal attack is to be made, as by an attack or alarm on one wing of an army when the principal attack is to be made on the other wing or the center; also, generally, any act intended to draw one's attention away from a point aimed at, or a desired object. Synonyms Amusement, Recreation, etc. (see
pastime ), relaxation.
Wiktionary
- n. military A tactic used to draw attention away from the real threat or action.
- n. A hobby; an activity that distracts the mind.
- n. The act of diverting.
- n. Removal of water via a canal.
- n. transport A detour, such as during road construction
- n. law Officially halting or suspending a formal criminal or juvenile justice proceeding and referral of the accused person to a treatment or care program.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of turning aside from any course, occupation, or object
- n. That which diverts; that which turns or draws the mind from care or study, and thus relaxes and amuses; sport; play; pastime.
- n. (Mil.) The act of drawing the attention and force of an enemy from the point where the principal attack is to be made; the attack, alarm, or feint which diverts.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an attack calculated to draw enemy defense away from the point of the principal attack
- n. a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern)
- n. an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
Etymologies
- From French diversion, from Medieval Latin diversio, from Latin divertere, past participle diversus ("to divert"); see divert. (Wiktionary)
- Late Latin dīversiō, dīversiōn-, act of turning aside, from Latin dīversus, past participle of dīvertere, to divert; see divert. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But to assign people to go to a territory final, state playoffs as great as a title diversion is a small ridiculous.”
“Via Martyn Daniels: "Today HarperCollins announced its adoption of the Nintendo DS ebook application to sell a cartridge of some 100 classics ... a new and interesting diversion from the normal platform and one which is both logical and could offer a quick return as it has a ready-built audience.”
“I take your point about technology having the capacity to marshall and maintain attention for the purposes of learning – and I think that it can do this very effectively both outside and inside the classroom, but in both cases it requires a measure of discipline, either self generated or teacher imposed, so that its (enormous) capacity for diversion is kept in check.”
“It was a kind diversion from the usual topics we must, also, thank you for.”
“Let's hope the hour is more entertaining than the last diversion from the norm, the William Friedkin-directed 200th episode, which changed the pace so much that most of what people like about CSI was no longer recognizable.”
“Its because a bunch of namby pamby left wing liberals have complained to a government in economic trouble who all have left wing police hating pasts need a diversion from the expense scandal and their fiscal mismanagement that we are seen as a good diversion.”
“So far, I think what Obama's practicing I call diversion--which is, say you are a centrist, pretend you're a centrist, but on all of the big-ticket items--health care, environmental regulation--so far there's been no movement.”
“Peter Gerdes: What distinguishes this case from other forms of diversion is the age of the participants and the clear intent of the education program to be a change in their moral attitudes.”
“What distinguishes this case from other forms of diversion is the age of the participants and the clear intent of the education program to be a change in their moral attitudes.”
“This is a diversion from the real issue, that Sanford had left his post without notifying the proper authorities or even placing someone in charge during several of his absenses, such as during the wildfires a few years back, Morality aside, Sanford was derelict in his duties, just as Meghan's father Senator McCain was derelict in his duties as a senator during the Keating 5 scandal.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘diversion’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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JURI - courtroom speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
accused, acquittal, ADA, adjournment, adjudication, affidavit, affirmed, aggravated range, aggravating factors, allegation, alleged, answer and 794 more...
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-sion
division, passion, decompression, compression, suppression, depression, digression, degression, diversion, aggression, compassion, vision and 1 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Happy, happy, joy, joy.
Feel good words.
great pleasure, joyfulness, jubilation, triumph, exultation, rejoicing, happiness, gladness, exhilaration, exuberance, bliss, felicity and 95 more...
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fifi
verbs Adj Adv noun
indulge, convene, solve, dissolve, prospect, prospective, allege, resolve, accountable, administration, amid, agenda and 407 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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Scriptie: The Return of the King
i can't carry it ..., at the end of all..., it's done, reach, eagles, veil, grass, water, cream, strawberries, barley, summer and 200 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, D
dodecahedron, din, diglyceride, dysphotopsia, decoction, deboss, diatonic, dithyramb, divagate, discalced, dishdasha, daft and 281 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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oneasterism's words
Words that I like, that I don't use often enough, that are new to me, that friends and family have taught me, and so on.
lugubrious, reticent, eschelon, missive, penchant, copious, conspicuous, tranquil, redolent, asinine, inane, dilatory and 625 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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12th Grade Unit 11
aversion, avert, diversion, extrovert, introvert, inadvertent, incontrovertible, emissary, remiss, remission, remit, circumlocution and 3 more...
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tokuda's Words
schadenfreude, capricious, mawkish, honor, lacuna, ennui, troglodyte, philistine, wastrel, aesthete, sybarite, libertine and 22 more...
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Not the Clearest of Intentions
You ever try to read someone who can't be read? What is he thinking? What is he going to do? Whose side is he really on?
hidden agenda, doublespeak, backstabbing, treasonous, covert, mysterious, questionable, shady, flattering, sycophant, brownnose, secretive and 78 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for diversion.
mollusque How diverting. Sep 30, 2008
artoparts Add diverted to your words, I prefer it over divert and diversion. Sep 30, 2008