Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use sidetrack in a sentence

15 example sentences · noun, verb

Sidetrack means a second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a railroad siding. Example: “Stay focused on the story; you keep getting lost in all of these little sidetracks.”

Examples of sidetrack by meaning

nounAn alternate train of thought, issue, topic, or activity, that is a deviation or distraction from the topic at hand or...

  • Stay focused on the story; you keep getting lost in all of these little sidetracks.

verbTo divert or distract (someone) from a main issue or course of action with an alternate or less relevant topic or...

  • Sorry I'm late. I got sidetracked helping my friend move some furniture.
  • The politician sidetracked the reporter with a story about duck hunting instead of a direct response to the question that was asked.
  • I hope you can sidetrack the teacher with questions so we don't have to take the exam.

verbTo sideline; to push aside; to divert or distract from, reducing (something) to a secondary or subordinate position.

  • The project was sidetracked in favor of a more popular program.
  • He has sidetracked this debate for far too long.

verbTo deviate briefly from the topic at hand.

  • Just to sidetrack a little bit from the subject I will explain my reasoning.
  • To sidetrack for a moment, let me commend this team for their outstanding efforts.

More sentences with sidetrack

  • Efforts to amend the law got sidetracked in an administrative logjam.From the entry logjam
  • I mean bigheads who are sidetracked by stuff away from football.'2010, Jonathan Wilson, Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches. From the entry bighead
  • Hmmm somehow I manage to sidetrack from Arjuna's crafty strategy to the ICC management of cricket grounds?1998 June 13, Duane Pettet, “NZ vs Sri Lanka (result)”, in rec.sport.cricket (Usenet), archived from the original on 26 Nov 2024. From the entry wafflyness
  • It is better that these demands be carefully sidetracked than met head-on with ridicule.1969, Martin Raymond Bender, An Introduction to Organized Labor in Television, page 28. From the entry blue-sky
  • The train clacketed through pine forests and honked derisively at a gaily painted bell-funneled museum piece sidetracked in a clearing.2015 July 10, “Harper Lee’s new novel: read the first chapter”, in The Guardian. From the entry clacket
  • Josh got sidetracked somehow onto whether or not “Delia's Gone” is too po-mo to be misogynist, and I went home early.2014, Gemma Files, We Will All Go Down Together, →ISBN. From the entry po-mo
  • “Actually I got sidetracked by a storybook I’m illustrating.”2004, Jardine Libaire, Here Kitty Kitty: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 16. From the entry mnh

Meaning of sidetrack

  1. noun A second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a railroad siding.
  2. noun Any auxiliary railroad track, as differentiated from a siding, that runs adjacent to the main track.
  3. noun A smaller tunnel or well drilled as an auxiliary off a main tunnel or well.

Full definition of sidetrack

Questions about sidetrack in a sentence

How do you use sidetrack in a sentence?
Sidetrack is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Stay focused on the story; you keep getting lost in all of these little sidetracks.”
What is a short sentence with sidetrack?
“He has sidetracked this debate for far too long.”
What does sidetrack mean?
Sidetrack means a second, relatively short length of track just to the side of a railroad track, joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends, used either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track to meet (opposite directions) or pass (same direction); a railroad siding.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sidetrack (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use sidetrack in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sidetrack. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.