diversion

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation.
• noun Something that distracts the mind and relaxes or entertains.
• noun A maneuver that draws the attention of an opponent away from a planned point of action, especially as part of military strategy.
• noun A policy or practice permitting a juvenile to be removed from traditional processing in juvenile court and placed in a program involving an alternative disposition, such as treatment or rehabilitation services.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of turning aside from a course; a turning into a different direction or to a different point or destination: as, the diversion of a stream from its usual channel; the diversion of the mind from business or study, or to another object.
• noun That which diverts; that which turns something from its proper or natural course or tendency; specifically, that which turns or draws the mind from care, business, or study, and thus rests and amuses; sport; play; pastime: as, the diversions of youth; works of wit and humor furnish an agreeable diversion to the studious.
• noun The act of drawing the attention and force of an enemy from the point where the principal attack is to be made, as by an attack or alarm on one wing of an army when the principal attack is to be made on the other wing or the center; also, generally, any act intended to draw one's attention away from a point aimed at, or a desired object.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of turning aside from any course, occupation, or object
• noun That which diverts; that which turns or draws the mind from care or study, and thus relaxes and amuses; sport; play; pastime.
• noun (Mil.) The act of drawing the attention and force of an enemy from the point where the principal attack is to be made; the attack, alarm, or feint which diverts.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun military A tactic used to draw attention away from the real threat or action.
• noun A hobby; an activity that distracts the mind.
• noun The act of diverting.
• noun Removal of water via a canal.
• noun transport A detour, such as during road construction
• noun law Officially halting or suspending a formal criminal or juvenile justice proceeding and referral of the accused person to a treatment or care program.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an attack calculated to draw enemy defense away from the point of the principal attack
• noun a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern)
• noun an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates