Dis*tract" (?), a. [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Distraught.]

1.

Separated; drawn asunder.

[Obs.]

2.

Insane; mad.

[Obs.]

Drayton.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dis*tract", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distracted, old p. p. Distraught; p. pr. & vb. n. Distracting.]

1.

To draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin.

A city . . . distracted from itself. Fuller.

2.

To draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention.

Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination. Goldsmith.

3.

To agitate by conflicting passions, or by a variety of motives or of cares; to confound; to harass.

Horror and doubt distract His troubled thoughts. Milton.

4.

To unsettle the reason of; to render insane; to craze; to madden; -- most frequently used in the participle, distracted.

A poor mad soul; . . . poverty hath distracted her. Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.

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