diversion vs sideline

diversion

noun
  • A detour, such as during road construction. 

  • A hobby; an activity that distracts the mind. 

  • Officially halting or suspending a formal criminal or juvenile justice proceeding and referral of the accused person to a treatment or care program. 

  • The act of diverting. 

  • Removal of water via a canal. 

  • The rerouting of cargo or passengers to a new transshipment point or destination, or to a different mode of transportation before arrival at the ultimate destination. 

  • A tactic used to draw attention away from the real threat or action. 

sideline

noun
  • A secondary road, especially a byroad at right angles to a main road. 

  • A line for hobbling an animal by connecting the fore and the hind feet of the same side. 

  • Something that is additional or extra or that exists around the edges or margins of a main item. 

  • Usually in the plural: the area outside the playing field beyond each sideline. 

  • The outside or perimeter of any activity. 

  • A line at the side of something. 

  • A line defining the side boundary of a playing field. Used in Canadian football, field lacrosse and basketball. 

verb
  • To remove or keep out of circulation or out of the focus. 

  • To place on the sidelines; to bench or to keep someone out of play. 

How often have the words diversion and sideline occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )