derail.
Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
Meaning & usage
Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
The derail was placed deliberately so that the train would fall into the river.
An instance of diverting a conversation or debate from its original topic.
Where this word comes from
From French dérailler (“to go off the rails”). Analyzable as de- + rail.
To cause to come off the tracks.
The train was destroyed when it was derailed by the collision.
To come off the tracks.
To deviate from the previous course or direction.
The conversation derailed once James brought up politics.
To cause to deviate from a set course or direction.
The protesting students derailed the professor's lecture.
Where this word comes from
From French dérailler (“to go off the rails”). Analyzable as de- + rail.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.