detour
Noun:
- A longer or less direct route taken to avoid something or to visit something along the way: A "detour" is a path that deviates from the main or planned route, often due to an obstruction or by choice.
- A deviation from a direct course of action: In a figurative sense, a "detour" can refer to a temporary departure from a planned activity or goal.
Verb:
- To take or cause to take a detour: The action of following or directing someone/something along an alternative, usually longer, route.
Noun: Due to the road construction, we had to take a long detour through the countryside. His career took an unexpected detour when he decided to study art instead of law.
Verb: We will need to detour around the flooded section of the highway. The parade route was detoured to avoid the city center.
"To make a detour": This is a common collocation meaning to deliberately take an alternative route. Let's make a quick detour to see the old lighthouse.
Figurative Use: Used to describe a temporary change in plans, focus, or life path. The project hit a snag, forcing us on a brief detour before we could resume our original plan.
- Detour route (n): The specific alternative path to be followed.
- Detour sign (n): A traffic sign indicating that a detour is in place.
- Noun: Bypass, diversion, circuitous route, roundabout way.
- Verb: Divert, reroute, redirect, bypass.
(Note: "Detour" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. The verb form is typically used transitively or intransitively as shown in the examples.)
- "A detour on the road to [something]": A temporary setback or change in the process of achieving a goal.
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a roundabout road (especially one that is used temporarily while a main route is blocked)
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travel via a detour
