derail

verb de·rail \ di-ˈrāl , dē- \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: derail in a Sentence

Definition of derail

transitive verb

1 : to cause to run off the rails

2 a : to obstruct the progress of : frustrate

security problems derailed the tour

b : to upset the stability or composure of

divorce … can seriously derail an employee
—Joanne Gordon

intransitive verb

: to leave the rails

—

derailment

play \-mənt\ noun

See derail defined for English-language learners

See derail defined for kids

Examples of derail in a Sentence

The train derailed in heavy snow.
The train was derailed by heavy snow.

Recent Examples of derail from the Web

Goals from Thiago Silva and David Luiz - a quite spectacular 'knucklebal' free-kick - went some way to derailing Colombia's unprecedented progress at the World Cup finals.

— SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 2 Days to Go - James Rodríguez Makes the 2014 World Cup His Own," 12 June 2018
That kind of actual calamity would have immediately leaked and dominated headlines for days, possibly derailing the season all together.

— refinery29.com, "Making Sense Of The Ambulance Drama On The Bachelorette," 12 June 2018
Among those flanking Trump will be Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, whose belligerent rhetoric toward North Korea briefly derailed the summit last month.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Will Leave Summit With North Korea Early," 11 June 2018
Bolton’s hardline rhetoric last month infuriated North Korea and nearly derailed the summit.

— author: steve holland, jack kim, Anchorage Daily News, "Trump and North Korea’s Kim arrive in Singapore for historic summit," 10 June 2018
She has just been betrayed by her girlfriend, which derails her plans to pursue career possibilities in Los Angeles.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "LGBT Drama 'Becks' At Cinestudio," 9 June 2018
The issue became a flash point that helped derail Republican efforts to repeal the law last year, with opponents of the party’s health bills speaking loudly against weakening protections for the sick and vulnerable.

— abby goodnough, New York Times, "Trump’s New Plan to Dismantle Obamacare Comes With Political Risks," 8 June 2018
While the actual systems at play are often opaque, from my experience, killing people in Vampyr has a cost, leading to the population getting sicker, derailing the main plot, and making the world broadly more dangerous.

— julie muncy, WIRED, "The Messiness of Vampyr Doesn't Weaken Its Bite," 7 June 2018
Kim Barth, owner of La Banque de Fleuve, has experience with disasters derailing wedding plans.

— brittany britto, baltimoresun.com, "Ellicott City's flood left couples without a wedding venue — but not for long," 7 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'derail.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.