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A by-passage, for a pipe, or other channel, to divert circulation from the usual course.

The outlet from a dam or reservoir; also, a cut to divert the flow of water.

one) names, to apply contemptuous names (to any one). -- To call off, to summon away; to divert; as, to call off the attention; to call off workmen from their employment. -- To call out. (a) To summon to fight; to challenge. (b) To summon into service; as, to call out the militia. -- To call over, to recite separate…

To brood or sit on; to incubate. While the hen is covering her eggs, the male . . . diverts her with his songs. Addison.

ord, to which another finds a rhyme. I saw in one corner . . . a cluster of men and women,diverting themselves with a game at crambo. I heard several double rhymes . . . which raised a great deal of mirth. Addison.

To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. Wordsworth.

To turn the course of, as water; to divert and distribute into subordinate channels; to diffuse; to communicate; to transmit; -- followed by to, into, on, upon. [Obs.] For fear it [water] choke up the pits . . . they [the workman] derive it by other drains. Holland. Her due loves derived to that vile witch's share. Spe…

To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate. The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated. W. Tooke. The founders of monasteries imprecated evil…

To divert or amuse; to make merry. They could disport themselves. Buckle.

To divert by persuasion; to turn from a purpose by reasons or motives; -- with from; as, I could not dissuade him from his purpose. I have tried what is possible to dissuade him. Mad. D' Arblay.

Tending to dissuade or divert from a measure or purpose; dehortatory; as, dissuasive advice. -- n.

That which diverts attention; a diversion. "Domestic distractions." G. Eliot.

That which diverts; that which turns or draws the mind from care or study, and thus relaxes and amuses; sport; play; pastime; as, the diversions of youth. "Public diversions." V. Knox. Such productions of wit and humor as expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversion to readers. Addison.

Serving or tending to divert; also, distinguishing. [Obs.]

ong the sides of the body, branchial openings for the branchial sacs, which are formed by diverticula of the alimentary canal. Balanoglossus is the only known genus. See Illustration in Appendix.

e the attention of agreeably; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert; as, to entertain friends with conversation, etc. The weary time she can not entertain. Shak.

Affording entertainment; pleasing; amusing; diverting. -- En`ter*tain"ing*ly, adv. -- En`ter*tain"ing*ness, n.

east; a formal or elegant meal. (b) That which engages the attention agreeably, amuses or diverts, whether in private, as by conversation, etc., or in public, by performances of some kind; amusement. Theatrical entertainments conducted with greater elegance and refinement. Prescott.

To divert from its original use or purpose, or from its former possessor; to alienate. They . . . have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods. Jer. xix. 4.

bitterness; rancor. He hath . . . compassed me with gall and travail. Lam. iii. 5. Comedy diverted without gall. Dryden.