disengage
to release from attachment or connection; loosen; unfasten: to disengage a clutch.
to free (oneself) from an engagement, pledge, obligation, etc.: He accepted the invitation, but was later forced to disengage himself.
Military. to break off action with (an enemy).
to become disengaged; free oneself.
Origin of disengage
1Other words from disengage
- dis·en·gag·ed·ness [dis-en-gey-jid-nis, -geyjd-], /ˌdɪs ɛnˈgeɪ dʒɪd nɪs, -ˈgeɪdʒd-/, noun
- self-dis·en·gag·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use disengage in a sentence
(As he is about to clasp her in his arms, she suddenly draws the sword at his side, and hastily disengages herself).
The Robbers | Friedrich SchillerHe clasps her still closer to his bosom, and gazes upon her with wild and piercing looks; then suddenly disengages himself.
Love and Intrigue | Friedrich SchillerThis conversion disengages as much heat as the passage from the liquid to the gaseous state had absorbed.
In the dry way, it dissolves by heat in bisulphate of potassa; and disengages sulphurous acid gas in the act of solution.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew UreHe starts from antecedents, but he is great in proportion as he disengages himself from them or absorbs himself in them.
Sophist | Plato
British Dictionary definitions for disengage
/ (ˌdɪsɪnˈɡeɪdʒ) /
to release or become released from a connection, obligation, etc: press the clutch to disengage the gears
military to withdraw (forces) from close action
fencing to move (one's blade) from one side of an opponent's blade to another in a circular motion to bring the blade into an open line of attack
Derived forms of disengage
- disengaged, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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