Turn away when you make them laugh? (6)

I believe the answer is:

divert

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'turn away' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.

(Other definitions for divert that I've seen before include "Turn from normal course, say traffic" , "Entertain or turn from course" , "Amuse, or turn from normal course" , "Send in another direction, or entertain" , "Deflect; entertain" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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