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definitions

attach

[uh-tach]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attach ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

to adhere; pertain; belong (usually followed by to or upon): No blame attaches to him.

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RELATED WORDS

secure, fix, affix, adhere, add, link, connect, tie, stick, put, assign, send, allocate, annex, bind, couple, unite, prefix, append, rivet

Origin of attach

1300–50; Middle English atachen < Anglo-French atacher to seize, Old French atachier to fasten, alteration of estachier to fasten with or to a stake, equivalent to estach(e) (< Germanic *stakka stake1) + -ier infinitive suffix
Related formsat·tach·a·ble, adjectiveat·tach·er, nounre·at·tach, verbre·at·tach·a·ble, adjectiveun·at·tach·a·ble, adjective
Can be confusedattach attaché

Synonyms for attach

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attach ON THESAURUS.COM
1. subjoin, append, add, annex.

Antonyms for attach

1. detach.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for attach

Contemporary Examples of attach

Historical Examples of attach

  • Porter laughed at the idea that responsibility could attach to Crane.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • I'll attach the money to the note, and put them away together.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • Let not the penance for a rashness, to which fate urges me on, attach to my country, but to me.

    Leila, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • They were timid, but on the whole disposed to attach themselves to me.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • An attach from the French Embassy was waiting to speak to me on urgent business.

    My Double Life

    Sarah Bernhardt

British Dictionary definitions for attach

attach

verb (mainly tr)

to join, fasten, or connect
(reflexive or passive) to become associated with or join, as in a business or other venturehe attached himself to the expedition
(intr foll by to) to be inherent (in) or connected (with)responsibility attaches to the job
to attribute or ascribeto attach importance to an event
to include or append, esp as a conditiona proviso is attached to the contract
(usually passive) military to place on temporary duty with another unit
(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
to appoint officially
law to arrest or take (a person, property, etc) with lawful authority
obsolete to seize
Derived Formsattachable, adjectiveattacher, noun

Word Origin for attach

C14: from Old French atachier to fasten, changed from estachier to fasten with a stake, from estache stake 1
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
Word Origin and History for attach
v.

mid-14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), "to take or seize (property or goods) by law," a legal term, from Old French atachier (11c.), earlier estachier "to attach, fix; stake up, support" (Modern French attacher, also cf. Italian attaccare), perhaps from a- "to" + Frankish *stakon "a post, stake" or a similar Germanic word (see stake (n.)). Meaning "to fasten, affix, connect" is from c.1400. Related: Attached; attaching.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.