Distract /(?)/

1. Separated; drawn asunder. [Obs.]
2. Insane; mad. [Obs.]

imp. & p. p. Distracted; p. p. Distraught; p. pr. & vb. n. Distracting

1. To draw apart or away; to divide; to disjoin.

   A city . . . distracted from itself.

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.

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.

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.