shunt

views updated May 29 2018

shunt / shənt/ • v. 1. [tr.] push or pull (a train or part of a train) from the main line to a siding or from one track to another: their train had been shunted into a siding. ∎  (usu. be shunted) push or shove (someone or something): chairs were being shunted back and forth. ∎  direct or divert (someone or something) to a less important place or position: amateurs were gradually being shunted to filing jobs.2. [tr.] provide (an electrical current) with a conductor joining two points of a circuit, through which more or less of the current may be diverted.• n. 1. an act of pushing or shoving something.2. an electrical conductor joining two points of a circuit, through which more or less of a current may be diverted. ∎  Surgery an alternative path for the passage of the blood or other body fluid: [as adj.] shunt surgery.

shunt

views updated May 29 2018

shunt (shunt) n. a passage connecting two anatomical channels and diverting blood or other fluid (e.g. cerebrospinal fluid) from one to the other. It may occur as a congenital abnormality (as in septal defects of the heart) or be surgically created. See also anastomosis.

shunt

views updated May 29 2018

shunt †swerve, shy, shrink away XIII; (dial.) shove XVIII; move (a railway train) from one line to another XIX. ME. schunte, perh. a deriv. of SHUN.

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