I. ˈshənt verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English shunten to flinch, shy, run away, perhaps from shunen to shun
transitive verb
1. : to shove or put aside or out of the way : sidetrack
didn't want to feel shunted — Peggy Bennett
the manufacturer had been shunted aside — Advertising Age
2. : to turn off to one side : shift
shunt cattle into a corral
specifically : to turn off (as a car or train) from one track to another : switch
the train was shunted to a siding
3.
a. : to provide with or divert by means of a shunt
b. : to interrupt (the flow of an electrical circuit in a railroad track) and so cause the signals in the block affected to change their aspect automatically
the circuit is shunted by the wheels of a train, the opening of a switch, or the breaking of a rail
c. : to divert (blood) from one part to another by surgical creation of a shunt
intransitive verb
1. : to move to the side : turn off from a course being followed
shunted from his main interest to a profitable sideline
specifically : to move onto a sidetrack
one of the standard goods engines … was shunting at the time — O.S.Nock
2. : to travel back and forth : shuttle
shunts between the two towns
II. noun
( -s )
: a means or mechanism for turning or thrusting aside: as
a. chiefly Britain : a railroad switch
b.
(1) : a conductor joining two points in an electrical circuit so as to form a parallel or alternative path through which a portion of the current may pass (as for the purpose of regulating the amount passing in the main circuit)
(2) : a conductor providing a low-resistance path for the flow of current
a brush shunt
(3) : divertor
c. : a vascular passage by which blood is diverted from its usual or normal circulatory path
an arteriovenous shunt
especially : a surgical passage created between two blood vessels to divert blood from one part to another
portacaval shunt
III. noun
1. chiefly Britain : a minor collision especially in auto racing
2. : a device (as a narrow tube) used to establish an artificial passage by which a bodily fluid is diverted from one vessel or part to another