Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: deflectere 'to bend down, turn away'

deflect

 verb
     
de‧flect
1 [intransitive and transitive] if someone or something deflects something that is moving, or if it deflects, it turns in a different direction:
He deflected the blow with his forearm.
2 [transitive] to do something to stop people paying attention to you, criticizing you etc
deflect something (away) from something
his attempts to deflect attention away from his private life
The committee is seeking to deflect criticism by blaming me.
3 [transitive] to take someone's attention away from something
deflect somebody from (doing) something
Nothing can deflect me from reaching my goal.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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