sidetrack
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈsaɪdˌtræk/
- Specialized
- It's no secret that some of the music education curricula in many of our school systems—and the systems themselves—are like rusting locomotives shunted off to a sidetrack.
- take a sidetrack
Examples
-
The Nicholsons' habit of wandering off into intriguing sidetracks of conversation was beginning to infect her.
Fiction book (1992) -
It was only four miles to the house, and I made that easily, even taking a sidetrack through the winter pasture to check the storage cistern for the corner windmill.
Fiction book (2000) -
I got no time for sidetracks.
-
"We're on a sidetrack," said Welstead wearily.
Fiction book (1992) -
I'm not going to posit a thesis here, especially since this issue is a sidetrack from the original topic regarding infant vaccinations.
Blog text (19) -
Florida's Baby Blaine discussion had sidetracks in voucher politics, for example.
Academic text (2014) -
"While we ate, I talked about how I'd spent the afternoon, and how an unpromising sidetrack in a difficult investigation had turned into an unintended Twelfth Step call."
Fiction book (1994) -
The train was moved to the sidetrack to allow the express service to pass.
-
A long freight train is waiting on the sidetrack while a passenger train travels by.
-
The sidetrack next to the main line was used for storing idle trains overnight.
Synonyms
2
6.7
A short track beside the main track where trains wait
1
4.6
A short extra track beside the main track where trains stop to let other trains pass
1
7.4
A short rail line that turns off a main line to reach a factory or warehouse
1
7.9
A short side track where trains stop or pass each other
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Sidetrack is made from the simple parts side and track, where side means 'to the side' and track means a railway path. It was used for a short rail off the main line where trains can wait or be kept, so a sidetrack is a short stretch of track used to store trains or let others pass.