attach

[ uh-tach ]
See synonyms for: attachattachedattachesattaching on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to fasten or affix; join; connect: to attach a photograph to an application with a staple.

  2. to join in action or function; make part of: to attach oneself to a group.

  1. Military. to place on temporary duty with or in assistance to a military unit.

  2. to include as a quality or condition of something: One proviso is attached to this legacy.

  3. to assign or attribute: to attach significance to a gesture.

  4. to bind by ties of affection or regard: You always attach yourself to people who end up hurting you.

  5. Law. to take (persons or property) by legal authority.

  6. Obsolete. to lay hold of; seize.

verb (used without object)
  1. to adhere; pertain; belong (usually followed by to or upon): No blame attaches to him.

Origin of attach

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English atachen, from Anglo-French atacher “to seize,” Old French atachier “to fasten,” alteration of estachier “to fasten with or to a stake,” from estach(e), from Frankish stakka “stake”; cf. stake1

Other words for attach

Opposites for attach

Other words from attach

  • at·tach·a·ble, adjective
  • at·tach·er, noun
  • re·at·tach, verb
  • re·at·tach·a·ble, adjective
  • un·at·tach·a·ble, adjective

Words that may be confused with attach

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use attach in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for attach

attach

/ (əˈtætʃ) /


verb(mainly tr)
  1. to join, fasten, or connect

  2. (reflexive or passive) to become associated with or join, as in a business or other venture: he attached himself to the expedition

  1. (intr foll by to) to be inherent (in) or connected (with): responsibility attaches to the job

  2. to attribute or ascribe: to attach importance to an event

  3. to include or append, esp as a condition: a proviso is attached to the contract

  4. (usually passive) military to place on temporary duty with another unit

  5. (usually passive) to put (a member of an organization) to work in a different unit or agency, either with an expectation of reverting to, or while retaining some part of, the original working arrangement

  6. to appoint officially

  7. law to arrest or take (a person, property, etc) with lawful authority

  8. obsolete to seize

Origin of attach

1
C14: from Old French atachier to fasten, changed from estachier to fasten with a stake, from estache stake 1

Derived forms of attach

  • attachable, adjective
  • attacher, noun

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with attach

attach

see no strings attached.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.