Dictionaries › English

derail

Pronunciation: /ˌdiːˈɹeɪl/

The English word “derail” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
  2. An instance of diverting a conversation or debate from its original topic.

verb

  1. To cause to come off the tracks.
  2. To come off the tracks.
  3. To deviate from the previous course or direction.
  4. To cause to deviate from a set course or direction.

Etymology

From French dérailler (“to go off the rails”). Analyzable as de- + rail.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “derail” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.