sidetrack
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈsaɪdˌtræk/
- Specialized
:
apartadero
- 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
7.9
A short side track where trains stop or pass each other
1
4.6
A short extra track beside the main track where trains stop to let other trains pass
A short rail line that turns off a main line to reach a factory or warehouse
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.