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)
-
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
-
attachedsimple
-
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:
Marvell refers to its custom chips as XPUs, and to the components that support them in data centers — such as networking and storage controllers — as XPU attach.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Tin is an element vital to the artificial intelligence industry, used as solder to attach microchips to circuit boards and bond together other electronics in data centres.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 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
He paused to attach a small piece of blue paper to my lowest branch, using a bit of twine.
From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate
Thomasin McKenzie plays a young woman, Alyce, steeped in her own trauma and loss, who attaches herself to the ploughman, and her ability to express wide-eyed, barely contained hysteria and fear is unmatched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
But he now attaches a condition to that advice.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
It also attaches to regulatory regions throughout the genome that control genes needed to preserve muscle stem cell identity.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 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
The pipe is about eight inches long and an inch and a half in diameter, with two metal connectors—one down by the foot, and one up where the pipe attaches to the socket.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
The museum was Mr. Libeskind’s first major building and remains the work to which he’s most attached.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Family members seeking to visit Australians will have "no further stay" conditions attached to their temporary visas.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
You have to stay adaptive, keep making small bets, keep getting feedback, and not get attached to your first answer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Slate’s Rebecca Onion investigates why fans are so attached to the show.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
The Drone was a small flying machine with a special camera attached to its underside.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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
“The brands are realizing that and attaching themselves more to longer-form content.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
It is now considering attaching a $100,000 price tag on international students’ ability to work in the U.S. after they graduate from an American university, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
It is extending the border fence out to sea, attaching long lines of orange buoys to the jetty which ships will then patrol to deter future swimmers.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Leo’s hands worked furiously, attaching levers, fastening the metal funnel to an old gear shaft.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
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.
