DERAIL | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

derail

verb

uk /ˌdiːˈreɪl/ us /ˌdiːˈreɪl/

derail verb (TRAIN)

[ I or T ]

If a train derails or is derailed, it comes off the railway tracks.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

On the road: accidents involving vehicles

• aquaplane
• bird strike
• blowout
• brake
• car crash
• collide
• crash-landing
• derailment
• hit and run
• knock sb over
• pile-up
• plough into sth/sb
• rear-end
• road toll
• rubbernecker
• run sb/sth down
• shunt
• stack up
• wipe out
• write sth off

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derail verb (PLAN)

[ T ]

to prevent a plan or process from succeeding:

Renewed fighting threatens to derail the peace talks.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Related word

derailment

(Definition of derail from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

derail | American Dictionary

derail

verb [ T ]

us /dɪˈreɪl, di-/

to cause a train to run off the tracks:

fig. Renewed fighting threatens to derail the peace talks (= stop them from continuing).

(Definition of derail from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

derail | Business English

derail

verb [ T ]

uk /dɪˈreɪl/ us

to stop something from succeeding:

Investors are very concerned that a new crisis could derail the economic recovery.

Analysts identified five factors which could derail the hi-tech markets