different between distract vs discuss

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrah? (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trah? (“to pull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?s?t?ækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Verb

distract (third-person singular simple present distracts, present participle distracting, simple past and past participle distracted)

1. (transitive) To divert the attention of.
2. (transitive) To make crazy or insane; to drive to distraction.

Related terms

• distracted
• distractible
• distracting
• distraction

Translations

Adjective

distract (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Separated; drawn asunder.
2. (obsolete) Insane; mad.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 6 p. 3[1]:

     (Alone shee beeing left the spoyle of love and death,

     In labour of her griefe outrageously distract,

     The utmost of her spleene on her false lord to act)

See also

• distraught

Anagrams

• adstrict

English

Etymology

From Middle French and Anglo-Norman discusser (French discuter), from Latin discussus, past participle of discuti? (“to strike or shake apart, break up, scatter; examine, discuss”), from dis- (“apart”) + quati? (“to shake”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d?s?k?s/, /d?s?k?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d?s?k?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Verb

discuss (third-person singular simple present discusses, present participle discussing, simple past and past participle discussed)

1. (transitive) To converse or debate concerning a particular topic.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To communicate, tell, or disclose (information, a message, etc.).
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 3:

     Nym: I will discuss the humour of this love to Page.

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 4, scene 1:

     Pistol: Discuss unto me; art thou officer? Or art thou base, common and popular?

3. (obsolete, transitive) To break to pieces; to shatter.
4. (obsolete, transitive, colloquial) To deal with, in eating or drinking; consume.
   • 1854, Samuel White Baker, The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon:

     We sat quietly down and discussed a cold fowl that we had brought with us.

   • 1858, James Hogg, Titan (volume 27, page 306)

     In the first room we entered, a soldier and a man, like a clerk or dominie, were discussing a bottle of red wine; they immediately sprang up and politely proffered us each a bumper.

5. (transitive, law) To examine or search thoroughly; to exhaust a remedy against, as against a principal debtor before proceeding against the surety.
6. (obsolete, transitive) To drive away, disperse, shake off; said especially of tumors.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.i:

     For she was giuen all to fleshly lust,
     And poured forth in sensuall delight,
     That all regard of shame she had discust,
     And meet respect of honour put to flight […]

   • June 15, 1751, Samuel Johnson, letter in The Rambler

     The softness of my hands was secured by medicated gloves, and my bosom rubbed with a pomade prepared by my mother, of virtue to discuss pimples, and clear discolourations.

   • 1642, Henry Wotton, Short View of the Life and Death of George Villers Duke of Buckingham

     Many arts were used to discuss the beginnings of new affliction.

Synonyms

• (converse about a topic): bespeak, betalk, debate, talk about

Derived terms

Related terms

• quash

Translations

See also

• argue

Further reading

• discuss in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• discuss in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• discuss at OneLook Dictionary Search