deflect

From Latin deflecto, from de- (“away”) + flecto (“to bend”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈflɛkt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkt

deflect (third-person singular simple present deflects, present participle deflecting, simple past and past participle deflected)

1. (transitive) To make (something) deviate from its original path or position.
2. (transitive, ball games) To touch the ball, often unwittingly, after a shot or a sharp pass, thereby making it unpredictable for the other players.

   The defender deflected the cross into his own net.

3. (intransitive) To deviate from an original path or position.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To avoid addressing (questions, criticism, etc.).

   Synonym: elude

   The Prime Minister deflected some increasingly pointed questions by claiming he had an appointment.

5. (transitive, figuratively) To divert (attention, etc.).
   • 1979 December 29, Rudy Kikel, “Young Men”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 16:

     Certainly there was much in the relationship itself that, with so much energy deflected into logistic maneuvering was never […] "worked out."

   • 2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, “Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism”, in The Guardian‎:

     Critics suggest that Fernández, an unashamed populist and nationalist, is seeking to deflect attention from social disharmony at home.

• deflection

• clefted