DISTRACT Dis*tract", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distracted, old p. p. Distraught; p. pr. & vb. n. Distracting.]
1. To draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin. A city . . . distracted from itself. Fuller.
2. To draw (the sight, mind, or attention) in different directions; to perplex; to confuse; as, to distract the eye; to distract the attention. Mixed metaphors . . . distract the imagination. Goldsmith.
3. To agitate by conflicting passions, or by a variety of motives or of cares; to confound; to harass. Horror and doubt distract His troubled thoughts. Milton.
4. To unsettle the reason of; to render insane; to craze; to madden; — most frequently used in the participle, distracted. A poor mad soul; . . . poverty hath distracted her. Shak.
DISTRACTED
Dis*tract"ed, a.
Defn: Mentally disordered; unsettled; mad.
My distracted mind. Pope.
DISTRACTEDLY
Dis*tract"ed*ly, adv.
Defn: Disjointedly; madly. Shak.
DISTRACTEDNESS
Dis*tract"ed*ness, n.