to direct a person's attention away from an activity or subject towards another one that is less important

Ruth was looking for an envelope in a drawer when she was sidetracked by some old letters. 露丝在抽屉里找信封时，被一些旧信吸引住了。

The students sidetracked their teacher into talking about her hobby. 学生们将老师的话题转到她的业余爱好上来。

I'm sorry I'm late - I got sidetracked. 很抱歉迟到——我被其他事情耽搁了。