attach
Americanverb (used with object)
-
attaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
attached,
past participle, past
-
attaching
present participle
-
to fasten or affix; join; connect.
to attach a photograph to an application with a staple.
- Antonyms:
- detach
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to join in action or function; make part of.
to attach oneself to a group.
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Military. to place on temporary duty with or in assistance to a military unit.
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to include as a quality or condition of something.
One proviso is attached to this legacy.
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to assign or attribute.
to attach significance to a gesture.
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to bind by ties of affection or regard.
You always attach yourself to people who end up hurting you.
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Law. to take (persons or property) by legal authority.
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Obsolete. to lay hold of; seize.
verb (used without object)
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attaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
attached,
past participle, past
-
attaching
present participle
verb
-
to join, fasten, or connect
-
(reflexive or passive) to become associated with or join, as in a business or other venture
he attached himself to the expedition
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to be inherent (in) or connected (with)
responsibility attaches to the job
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to attribute or ascribe
to attach importance to an event
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to include or append, esp as a condition
a proviso is attached to the contract
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(usually passive) military to place on temporary duty with another unit
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(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
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to appoint officially
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law to arrest or take (a person, property, etc) with lawful authority
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obsolete to seize
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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attachsimple
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attachessimple
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have attachedperfect
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has attachedperfect
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am attachingprogressive
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are attachingprogressive
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is attachingprogressive
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have been attachingperfect progressive
-
has been attachingperfect progressive
Past
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attachedsimple
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had attachedperfect
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was attachingprogressive
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were attachingprogressive
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had been attachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of attach
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. stake 1
Explanation
Use the verb attach when you need to join things together, like a stamp that you attach to a letter. When you attach something, you join it or tie it to something else. The word can be used to show physically joining things, like a printer that you attach to your computer, or to show a strong personal connection. For example, you can attach yourself to a political cause or to a group of friends.
Vocabulary lists containing attach
"Hitching a Ride"
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 5
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"Growing Together" and "When I Grow Up"
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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:
Companies offered to attach warning labels near the handles for free, and some said they would remotely upgrade software involving lowering windows after a crash.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
When users record something using a device with ProofMode, it can attach information which helps verify elements such as when it was recorded and whether the file has been altered since.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
That same box, lovingly referred to as “the stocks,” is also used to attach the handlesticks to Gardner’s body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It was chosen because this animal’s femur lacks a crest or raised bony protrusion – known as a trochanter – where part of the tail musculature would attach.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Yes, but it would be nice to attach names to faces.”
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Hormone levels were measured every 20 minutes using a lightweight wearable device about the size of a mobile phone that attaches at the waist.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
But he now attaches a condition to that advice.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
He attaches clippings of or links to fawning newspaper profiles and columns, but not to stories about what was happening in the civilian population of his country as it went through a crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Roberts described the injury as “discomfort” at the back of Ohtani’s knee, around where the hamstring attaches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
The significance of raclopride is that when it travels through the bloodstream into the brain—crossing the “blood-brain barrier”—it attaches to dopamine.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The treated mice also moved more normally and placed more weight on the paw attached to the injured leg than untreated animals did.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Inside a dimly lit room, participants slept with monitors attached to their heads, some cradling stuffed toys in their beds.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
When people get attached to their AI agents, they’re also more likely to follow their suggestions, which can lead to them spending more money on the services and products that agents endorse, Yim said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
When Kevin opened the attached photograph it featured a woman he didn't know on the London Eye holding up what appeared to be his Celtic top to the camera.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
He wrote something on the badge and attached it to the rabbit's cage.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Writing for the majority, Justice Scalia reasoned that attaching the GPS device constituted such a tort and therefore fell within the scope of the Fourth Amendment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
That binding interferes with transcription of the gene, either by disrupting the activity of RNA polymerase, the enzyme that produces RNA, or by preventing transcription factors from attaching to DNA.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
In this role, the lawsuit said, she was responsible for originating and developing projects, attaching filmmakers, assembling financing and producing films from preproduction through delivery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Department of Transportation attaching itself to a series paid for by companies it regulates, including United Airlines, Chase Travel, Toyota, Boeing and Royal Caribbean.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Emma was in the humour to value simplicity and modesty to the utmost; and all that was amiable, all that ought to be attaching, seemed on Harriet’s side, not her own.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
