Dis*tract" (?), a. [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Distraught.]
1. Separated; drawn asunder. [Obs.]
2. Insane; mad. [Obs.]
Drayton.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913. | 
