sidetrack

[ sahyd-trak ]

/ ˈsaɪdˌtræk /

to move from the main track to a siding, as a train.

to move or distract from the main subject or course.

any railroad track, other than a siding, auxiliary to the main track.

Origin of sidetrack

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; side¹ + track

How do we move this along quickly before they get sidetracked with other projects?

Inside Sony’s ‘Pineapple Express 2 Drama’: Leaked Emails Reveal Fight Over Stoner Comedy Sequel |William Boot |December 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But the fact that they have had to divert funds and resources for Ebola means their original objectives have been sidetracked.

What’s Worse Than Ebola in West Africa? Almost Everything |Barbie Latza Nadeau |October 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It even included a sly nod to being “sidetracked in Juárez.”

Excerpts From a New Johnny Cash Biography Capture His Iconoclastic Genius |Robert Hilburn |October 26, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Got sidetracked watching a documentary about Egyptian afterlife rituals and beliefs.

The Land of the Dead |Megan McArdle |September 28, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

“We get sidetracked by efforts to focus on getting every woman a mammogram,” she recently told The Daily Beast.

The Media’s Pink-Ribbon Problem: Coverage Is Skewed, Study Says |Abigail Pesta |August 13, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
She ran out and caught a neighbors boy, and sent him scurrying down to the sidetracked sleeping car with a note to Helen.

Ruth Fielding At Sunrise Farm |Alice B. Emerson
About the middle of the afternoon the dispirited posse reached its sidetracked special.

Bucky O'Connor |William MacLeod Raine
There's been a big change in you since you sidetracked Will Douglas, Esmé.

The Clarion |Samuel Hopkins Adams
He sidetracked his suspicion, and made an excellent breakfast.

Fire-Tongue |Sax Rohmer
Two days of this journey amid the mountains, and the train slowed down at Clearwater, where the special car was sidetracked.

Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest |Alice B. Emerson

sidetrack

/ (ˈsaɪdˌtræk) /

to distract or be distracted from a main subject or topic

US and Canadian a railway siding

the act or an instance of sidetracking; digression