Deflect
[dɪ'flekt] or [dɪ'flɛkt]
Definition
(verb.) turn aside and away from an initial or intended course.
(verb.) turn from a straight course, fixed direction, or line of interest.
Edited by Helen--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To cause to turn aside; to bend; as, rays of light are often deflected.
(v. i.) To turn aside; to deviate from a right or a horizontal line, or from a proper position, course or direction; to swerve.
Typed by Billie
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Deviate, diverge, swerve, turn aside.
v. a. Bend, turn aside.
Typed by Freddie
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Turn, deviate, diverge, swerve, divert, recurve
ANT:Continue, proceed, straighten, unbend, prolong, produce
Inputed by Giles
Definition
v.i. or v.t. to turn aside: to swerve or deviate from a right line or proper course.—p.adj. Deflect′ed (bot.) bent abruptly downward.—ns. Deflec′tion Deflex′ion deviation.—adj. Deflec′tive causing deflection.—n. Deflec′tor a diaphragm in a lamp stove &c. by which the flame and gases are brought together and the combustion improved.—v.t. Deflex′ (zool. bot.) to bend down.—adj. Deflexed′.—n. Deflex′ure deviation.
Checked by Groves
Examples
- The feeblest imaginable current suffices to deflect the needle in one direction, which throws back the little beam of light upon it to the graduated front of the scale. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- These magnets deflect the fall of the particles rich in iron (which are attracted), while the non-magnetic particles of sand drop straight down. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Thus, if the two extreme needles were deflected inwards, one towards the left and the other towards the right, they would point to the letter _A_ at the top of the rhomb. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- The panic of 1837 closed the mills, and Howe found his course deflected to work in a machine-shop in Cambridge. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- A warm ocean current like the Gulf Stream may be deflected, and flow so as to warm one side of the barrier, leaving the other still cold. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- One of the magnetic needles acted as a detent which held a weight suspended, and when the needle was deflected, the weight fell upon a bell. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- In 1819 he had announced that the plane of po lari zed light--for example, a ray passed through Iceland spar--is deflected to right or left by various chem ical substances. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- When any of the needles was deflected by sending an electric current through the surrounding coil, the screen was withdrawn and exposed the letter behind. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- A thin knife-edge partition board, arranged below the falling sheets of sand, separates the deflected magnetic particles from the straight-falling sand. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The strip, A, is first put under a slight pressure, deflecting the needle a few degrees from zero. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Schweigger of Halle discovered that this deflecting force was increased when the wire was wound several times round the needle, and thus he invented the magnetising helix. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Something has come between which deflects concern to side issues. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- His bias deflects their actions. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Checker: Roberta