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 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. 2018

Related Words for attach

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

Examples from the Web for attach

Contemporary Examples of 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
The House and Senate write up the fix the White House wants, but they attach it to something Obama hates.
The GOP Could Make Obama Kill Obamacare
Michael Tomasky
November 10, 2014
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
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
“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

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

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.