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detract - 4 dictionary results

de⋅tract

  [di-trakt]
Use detract in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to take away a part, as from quality, value, or reputation (usually fol. by from).
–verb (used with object)
2. to draw away or divert; distract: to detract another's attention from more important issues.
3. Archaic. to take away (a part); abate: The dilapidated barn detracts charm from the landscape.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME (< MF detracter) < L dētractus drawn away (ptp. of dētrahere), equiv. to dē- de- + tractus drawn; see tract 1

Related forms:
de⋅tract⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
de⋅trac⋅tor, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To detract
de·tract   (dĭ-trākt')   
v.   de·tract·ed, de·tract·ing, de·tracts

v.   tr.
  1. To draw or take away; divert: They could detract little from so solid an argument.
  2. Archaic To speak ill of; belittle.
v.   intr.
To reduce the value, importance, or quality of something. Often used with from: testimony that only detracts from the strength of the plaintiff's case.

[Middle English detracten, from Latin dētrahere, dētract-, to remove : dē-, de- + trahere, to pull. Sense 2, from Latin dētractāre, frequentative of dētrahere, to take away.]
de·trac'tor n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Detract

De*tract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Detracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Detracting.] [L. detractus, p. p. of detrahere to detract; de + trahere to draw: cf. F. d['e]tracter. See Trace.]

1. To take away; to withdraw.

Detract much from the view of the without. --Sir H. Wotton.

2. To take credit or reputation from; to defame.

That calumnious critic . . . Detracting what laboriously we do. --Drayton.

Syn: To derogate; decry; disparage; depreciate; asperse; vilify; defame; traduce. See Decry.

Detract

De*tract"\, v. i. To take away a part or something, especially from one's credit; to lessen reputation; to derogate; to defame; -- often with from.

It has been the fashion to detract both from the moral and literary character of Cicero. --V. Knox.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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