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deflect Definition

de·flect (dē flekt′, di-)

transitive verb, intransitive verb

to turn or make go to one side; bend; swerve

Etymology: L deflectere < de-, from + flectere, to bend

deflect Related Forms
de·flec′·tive adjective de·flec′·tor noun
deflect Synonyms

deflect

v.

swerve, diverge, divert, parry; see turn 3, 6, veer.

deflect Usage Examples

Object

  • free-kick: But Iraq's midfielder Razak Mousa minimized the gap three minutes later as he headed home a deflected free-kick.
  • asteroid: They could be used to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
  • criticism: The curator pointed me to this book with alacrity, perhaps to deflect criticism into a safe sphere.
  • shot: A deflected shot by a defender resulted in a corner kick.
  • attention: Ms Tennant's words deflect attention from the simple truths above.
  • blame: Equally, they may deflect blame by blaming others, eg doctors.

Preposition: over

  • bar: With forty minutes gone Jarvis saw a close range shot deflected over the bar.

Preposition: into

  • path: His drive deflected straight into the path of Hunt.
  • net: His second was a cracking volley, deflected into the net.

Adjective complement

  • past: They pulled one back when Rob Saunders deflected past Chuck Martini before the second was headed in.

Modifying Another Word

  • magnetically: Missiles are deflected magnetically without touching the shield surface.
  • behind: Bent moved away from Henrik Pedersen in the 11th minute and saw his shot from the edge of the box deflected behind.
  • away: His effort was deflected away from the top corner by a flying one handed save.
  • easily: A strong magnet held on one side of the hand can easily deflect a compass needle on the other side of the same hand.
  • almost: His cross was almost deflected in by Wayne Brown before Weller stooped to nod home.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • off: In between the Hucknall attacks Cole saw his stinging volley deflected off Smith for a corner.
  • over: From the resulting free kick the ball broke free in the area only for the shot to be deflected over.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • off: David Thompson took the free kick which deflected off the wall for a corner.

Particle object:

  • defender: It does not matter what happens after ( i.e. whether the ball deflects off a defender or not ) it is still offside.
  • wall: David Thompson took the free kick which deflected off the wall for a corner.