From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdigressdi‧gress /daɪˈɡres/ verb [intransitive] SUBJECTto talk or write about something that is not your main subject Do you mind if I digress for a moment? —digression /daɪˈɡreʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable] After several long digressions he finally reached the interesting part of the story.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
digress• That is why we have digressed.• Perhaps this is the place to digress a little and talk about the taking of facts from other writers' books.• I am digressing, but with the purpose of emphasising the power of the pencil.• Before we do that, I'd like to digress for a minute and say a word or two about the new books.• However space does not permit me to digress into this topic.• Having digressed on our way around the village, all that is left is the marsh and the woods.• Having digressed so far, I can not resist going a little further.• Should they digress they would be asked to find other accommodation forthwith.• Stewart digresses to fill every cranny in her heroine's past.• During the lecture, Miller often digressed to give the history behind each theory.Origin digress (1500-1600) Latin digressus, past participle of digredi “to step aside” 