How to Use derail in a Sentence

derail

verb

• The train derailed in heavy snow.
• The train was derailed by heavy snow.
• This is not the first attempt by the state to derail the case.
  — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 July 2022
• And there are more than one thing that could derail the deal.
  — Scott Nover, Quartz, 25 Oct. 2022
• The best teams don’t get derailed when a starter or two goes down.
  — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 21 Jan. 2025
• The key to not derailing is to get the right systems in place.
  — Colin C. Campbell, Forbes, 3 May 2023
• Stay the course and don’t let emotions derail your plan.
  — Liz Elting, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022
• Two of the 16 CSX train cars that derailed were breached, spilling molten sulfur.
  — Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2023
• Then there is the pressure to follow the process learned in training and not miss a step that may derail the deal.
  — John Lowe, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022
• But the pain from Alex's cancer threatened to derail those plans.
  — Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 28 July 2023
• Russia’s war in Ukraine may derail plans to build Project 80.
  — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 1 Nov. 2022
• The cause of the accident was an overheating wheelset that caused a car in the middle of the train to derail.
  — The Editors, National Review, 26 Feb. 2023
• The ghosts of Knicks teams past loomed, threatening to derail the effort.
  — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2025
• Challenges are bound to arise in the month ahead, but don’t let this derail your journey.
  — Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 5 June 2024
• Riding the highs too much and taking the lows too hard can derail a player.
  — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2022
• Without him in the lineup, that two-month stretch could derail the whole plan this year.
  — Daniel Kohn, Spin, 6 Sep. 2023
• The train derailed just west of the village of Reeseville in Dodge County around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
  — Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2023
• Don’t let a lack of momentum or a bad mood derail your healthy habits.
  — Good Housekeeping, 6 Jan. 2023
• In 2018, one of their trains derailed while travelling to Fort Worth.
  — Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
• Stafford and the Rams struggle to find the rhythm on offense in a 22-10 loss to the Cowboys that threatens to derail their season.
  — Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2022
• The sense that nothing can derail the quest for the idyllic night out sits at the core of Scott’s art — not beef, not death, not taxes.
  — Vulture, 2 Aug. 2023
• Snell’s groove was derailed in the third, starting with Kyle Schwarber’s two-run, no-doubt-about-it home run over the right field wall.
  — Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024
• So for all the people who keep trying to steal my focus, or derail me.
  — Okla Jones, Essence, 3 Sep. 2024
• The power struggle has derailed a shift to civilian rule and raised fears of a wider conflict.
  — Reuters, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2023
• There are so many interests that have a claim to this site that can derail almost any kind of project.
  — James Barron, New York Times, 12 July 2023
• In Mount Vernon, the storm tore off roofs, smashed into mobile homes and derailed train cars.
  — John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 10 July 2024
• Too many derailed first dates, nobody would give me a second chance.
  — Tara Dorabji, People.com, 16 Jan. 2025
• But, once again, a makeshift offensive line will derail his progress.
  — Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Aug. 2023
• Yet, injuries have derailed his success as of late, limiting his time on Tour.
  — Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 23 Feb. 2025
• If this is a career risk, ultimately—and maybe this is a privileged position—but if this somehow derails my career, then maybe this isn’t where I was meant to be.
  — Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 25 Feb. 2025

Last Updated: 14 Mar 2025