distract
v.v. to take someone's attention away from what they are doing. You might do this by making a noise or talking while they are trying to focus.
v. to divert the attention of an individual or group from their primary focus or activity. Transitive; requires a direct object.
Please do not distract me while I am driving.
Loud construction noise outside the office continued to distract the employees throughout the afternoon.
The defense attorney attempted to distract the jury from the physical evidence by focusing on the witness's questionable past.
Borrowed from Latin distractus, from distrahō (“to pull apart”), from dis- + trahō (“to pull”).
The verb is transitive and frequently takes the preposition 'from' to indicate the activity being interrupted.
He was distracted for the noise.He was distracted by the noise.When describing the cause of the distraction, use the preposition 'by' rather than 'for'.