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- DictionaryDe·rail/dəˈrāl/
verb
- 1. cause (a train or trolley car) to leave its tracks accidentally: "a train was derailed after it collided with a herd of cattle"
The meaning of DERAIL is to cause to run off the rails. How to use derail in a sentence.
DERAIL definition: 1. If a train derails or is derailed, it comes off the railway tracks. 2. to prevent a plan or…. Learn more.
DERAIL meaning: 1. If a train derails or is derailed, it comes off the railway tracks. 2. to prevent a plan or…. Learn more.
to prevent a plan or process from succeeding: Renewed fighting threatens to derail the peace talks. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. (Definition of derailed from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
to cause (a train, streetcar, etc.) to run off the rails of a track. to cause to fail or become deflected from a purpose; reduce or delay the chances for success or development of: Being drafted into the army derailed his career for two years.
Definitions of derail. verb. run off or leave the rails. “the train derailed because a cow was standing on the tracks”. synonyms: jump. see more. verb. cause to run off the tracks. “they had planned to derail the trains that carried atomic waste”.
1. to cause (a train, streetcar, etc.) to run off the rails of a track. 2. to cause to be deflected from a purpose or direction, permanently or temporarily: A skiing accident derailed her dancing career. v.i. 3. to run off the rails of a track. 4. to become derailed; go astray.
To derail something such as a plan or a series of negotiations means to prevent it from continuing as planned.
[transitive] derail something to stop a process from continuing in the way it was intended to. This latest incident could derail the peace process. It is claims of financial irregularities which could ultimately derail his campaign. The company’s plans were initially derailed by problems with licence agreements.
To cause (a train, etc.) to go off the rails. (intransitive) To come off the tracks. A device placed on railway tracks causing a train to derail. The derail was placed deliberately so that the train would fall into the river.
