attach

[uh-tach]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attach ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to fasten or affix; join; connect: to attach a photograph to an application with a staple.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Obsolete. to lay hold of; seize.

verb (used without object)

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

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

We have a specific idea to attach to THE INTERVIEW that will crush.
Exclusive: Sony Emails Reveal Destiny’s Child and Kanye West Movies, and Spidey Cameo in Capt. 3|William Boot|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In DBS, a neurosurgeon implants electrodes in the brain that attach to a “pacemaker” for the brain.
The Burden Robin Williams Carried: Diagnosed With Parkinson’s and Depression|Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad|August 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Using skewers/tooth picks, attach monkey bread, Cinnabons, and churros to battleship.
Epic Meal Empire’s Meat Monstrosities: From the Bacon Spider to the Cinnabattleship|Harley Morenstein|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Attach Form(s) W-2” would be an exercise in the stapling of nothingness.
Up to a Point: I Do My Own Taxes With No Help, Except From a Couple of Bloody Marys|P. J. O’Rourke|April 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

True, making an Item 24 deduction requires me to “Attach Form 2106.”
Up to a Point: I Do My Own Taxes With No Help, Except From a Couple of Bloody Marys|P. J. O’Rourke|April 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We may now attach other straying symbols as holding them in mind.
Cupology|Clara
Vesta's countenance fell, as she thought of the suspicion that might attach to her father.
The Entailed Hat|George Alfred Townsend
The name marks a change in the idea which had come to attach to that name since the days of Homer.
Studies of Travel - Greece|Edward A. Freeman
If any one did not attach himself as client to a great family he was lost.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
The men there, attach the hawser to the whip, and by hauling one side thereof in, they run the other side and the hawser out.
Battles with the Sea|R.M. Ballantyne

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

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.

Idioms and Phrases with attach

attach

see no strings attached.

attach

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of attach

Synonyms for attach

Antonyms for attach

Examples from the Web for attach

attach

verb (mainly tr)

Word Origin for attach

attach