side ‧ track /ˈsaɪdtræk/ BrE AmE verb [transitive usually passive]
1 . to make someone stop doing what they should be doing, or stop talking about what they started talking about, by making them interested in something else:
Don’t get sidetracked by the audience’s questions.
2 . American English to delay or stop the progress of something:
An effort to improve security was sidetracked by budget problems.