Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIS-TRACT', v.t. [L. distractus, distraho; dis and traho, to draw. See Draw and Drag. The old participle distraught is obsolete.]

1. Literally, to draw apart; to pull in different directions, and separate. Hence, to divide; to separate; and hence, to throw into confusion. Sometimes in a literal sense. Contradictory or mistaken orders may distract an army.
2. To turn or draw from any object; to divert from any point, toward another point, or toward various other objects; as, to distract the eye or the attention. If he can not avoid the eye of the observer, he hopes to distract it by a multiplicity of the object. – South.
3. To draw toward different objects; to fill with different considerations; to perplex; to confound; to harass; as, to distract the mind with cares; you distract me with your clamor. While I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted. – Ps. lxxxviii.
4. To disorder the reason; to derange the regular operations of intellect; to render raving or furious; most frequently used in the participle distracted.