Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

attach

[uh-tach]
See more synonyms for attach 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.
  3. Military. to place on temporary duty with or in assistance to a military unit.
  4. to include as a quality or condition of something: One proviso is attached to this legacy.
  5. to assign or attribute: to attach significance to a gesture.
  6. to bind by ties of affection or regard: You always attach yourself to people who end up hurting you.
  7. Law. to take (persons or property) by legal authority.
  8. Obsolete. to lay hold of; seize.
Show More
verb (used without object)
  1. to adhere; pertain; belong (usually followed by to or upon): No blame attaches to him.
Show More

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

See more synonyms for attach on Thesaurus.com
1. subjoin, append, add, annex.

Antonyms

1. detach.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for attach

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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)
  1. to join, fasten, or connect
  2. (reflexive or passive) to become associated with or join, as in a business or other venturehe attached himself to the expedition
  3. (intr foll by to) to be inherent (in) or connected (with)responsibility attaches to the job
  4. to attribute or ascribeto attach importance to an event
  5. to include or append, esp as a conditiona proviso is attached to the contract
  6. (usually passive) military to place on temporary duty with another unit
  7. (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
  8. to appoint officially
  9. law to arrest or take (a person, property, etc) with lawful authority
  10. obsolete to seize
Show More
Derived Formsattachable, adjectiveattacher, noun

Word Origin

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.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with attach

attach

see no strings attached.

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