- disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed
"She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill"

- draw someone''s attention away from something
"The thief distracted the bystanders"
"He deflected his competitors"

1. Separated; drawn asunder. [Obs.]

2. Insane; mad. [Obs.] Drayton.

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.