detach
Americanverb (used with object)
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detaches,
present (3rd person singular)
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detached,
past participle, past
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detaching
present participle
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to unfasten and separate; disengage; disunite.
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Military. to send away (a regiment, ship, etc.) on a special mission.
verb
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to disengage and separate or remove, as by pulling; unfasten; disconnect
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military to separate (a small unit) from a larger, esp for a special assignment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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detachabilitynoun
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detachernoun
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nondetachabilitynoun
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predetachverb (used with object)
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detachableadjective
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nondetachableadjective
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self-detachingadjective
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undetachableadjective
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detachablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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detachsimple
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detachessimple
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have detachedperfect
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has detachedperfect
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am detachingprogressive
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are detachingprogressive
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is detachingprogressive
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have been detachingperfect progressive
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has been detachingperfect progressive
Past
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detachedsimple
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had detachedperfect
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was detachingprogressive
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were detachingprogressive
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had been detachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detach
1470–80; < Middle French détacher, Old French destachier; see dis- 1, attach
Explanation
If you separate one thing from another, you are detaching it. As a newborn baby, you became familiar with this concept as soon as your umbilical cord was cut! You can use the word detach to talk about physically pulling two things apart. For example, when your shirt comes back from the dry cleaner missing a few buttons, it’s safe to assume they got detached during the cleaning process. This word is easy to remember when you consider its antonym attach. Once you have attached that election pin to your lapel, you better detach it when your candidate loses!
Vocabulary lists containing detach
de-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Marriott said they also found people would "emotionally detach themselves" from images once they discovered they had been generated by AI.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Two additional large sections of the floating ice tongue are expected to detach in the near future as rifts that have been developing for years continue to cut through the ice.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
But even if you detach Reddit entirely from the LLM conversation, it’s still a growing platform that users truly love, and one I believe leaders should pay more attention to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
“As a referee — contrary to what many people might think — you detach yourself from many situations, from the noise, from the pressure,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The nurses work rapidly to detach the monitors and catheters and run another tube down my throat.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
By losing control, they exposed how fragile authorship becomes once ownership detaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
As each fragment detaches, it can open "slab windows" where hot mantle material rises toward the surface, creating bursts of volcanic activity.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2025
From the surface displacements, the researchers could glean clues to what was happening 1000 meters below, near the so-called grounding line—the spot where the frozen behemoth detaches from bedrock.
From Science Magazine ● May 19, 2024
As the soil dries, the thistle dies and detaches from the root.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
It's a complicated process, but it detaches the bedroom without having to depressurize the rover cabin.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
“We need to start asking ourselves: How come the science of polling has become so, I would say, detached from reality?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
When the model includes a grounding zone measuring 4 to 6 kilometers across, it predicts a 60% probability that Thwaites will become detached from Mouginot Ridge by the end of the century.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026
Nesbeth believes the focus on the bra shows "how detached we are".
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Within the LAPD, some have also criticized McDonnell for taking a detached approach to running the department and ceding control to underlings, such as Assistant Chief Dominic Choi.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The red fearless eyes still looked at him, impersonal and unafraid and detached.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
A teenage boy with lymphoma says he coped with the return of his cancer by detaching himself from his illness, following advice from his father who also faced the disease.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The ant reacts aggressively, biting the cone and accidentally detaching it from the anchor point.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Weiss is of the opinion that CBS is on the cusp of unlocking a new golden age of journalism, and that this is achievable only by detaching the network from party lines.
From Slate ● Jan. 6, 2026
Investigators have said the accident was caused by one of the engines catching fire and detaching during takeoff.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
A few young men, the leaders, showed off their physical prowess, detaching the cars from their wires.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
