detail

American  

[dih-teyl, dee-teyl, dih-teyl, dee-teyl] / dɪˈteɪl, ˈdi teɪl, dɪˈteɪl, ˈdi teɪl /

noun

• details
  plural

1. an individual or minute part; an item or particular.

2. particulars collectively; minutiae.

3. attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts.

   to postpone detail and concentrate on a subject as a whole.

4. intricate, finely wrought decoration.

5. Engineering. detail drawing.

6. any small section of a larger structure or whole, considered as a unit.

7. Military.

   1. an appointment or assignment, as of a small group or an officer, for a special task.

   2. the party or person so selected.

      the kitchen detail.

   3. a particular assignment of duty.

8. the property of an image or of a method of image production to make small, closely spaced image elements individually distinguishable.

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verb (used with object)

• details,
  present (3rd person singular)
• detailed,
  past participle,  past
• detailing
  present participle

1. to relate or report with complete particulars; tell fully and distinctly.

2. to mention one by one; specify; list.

   He detailed the events leading up to the robbery.

   Synonyms:

   catalog, enumerate, itemize

3. Military. to appoint or assign for some particular duty.

   We were detailed to patrol the border.

4. to provide with intricate, finely wrought decoration.

   lingerie detailed with lace and embroidery.

5. to thoroughly clean (a vehicle or part of a vehicle) and do minor repairs to improve its appearance.

   We detail the wheels and chrome to remove the rust.

idioms

1. in detail, item by item; with particulars.

   The résumé stated his qualifications in detail.

detail British  

/ ˈdiːteɪl /

noun

1. an item or smaller part that is considered separately; particular

2. an item or circumstance that is insignificant or unimportant

   passengers' comfort was regarded as a detail

3. treatment of or attention to items or particulars

   this essay includes too much detail

4. items collectively; particulars

5. a small or accessory section or element in a painting, building, statue, etc, esp when considered in isolation

6. military

   1. the act of assigning personnel for a specific duty, esp a fatigue

   2. the personnel selected

   3. the duty or assignment

7. to include all or most particulars

8. including all or most particulars or items thoroughly

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verb

1. to list or relate fully

2. military to select (personnel) for a specific duty

3. to decorate or elaborate (carving, etc) with fine delicate drawing or designs

detail More Idioms  

1. see in detail.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predetail
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• details
  plural

Participles

• detailing
  present
• detailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• detail
  simple
• details
  simple
• have detailed
  perfect
• has detailed
  perfect
• am detailing
  progressive
• are detailing
  progressive
• is detailing
  progressive
• have been detailing
  perfect progressive
• has been detailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• detailed
  simple
• had detailed
  perfect
• was detailing
  progressive
• were detailing
  progressive
• had been detailing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will detail
  simple
• will have detailed
  perfect
• will be detailing
  progressive
• will have been detailing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of detail

First recorded in 1595–1605; from French détail, Old French, noun derivative of detailler “to cut in pieces,” equivalent to de- “away, apart , etc.” ( see dis- ¹) + tailler “to cut,” from unattested Vulgar Latin taliāre; see tailor ¹

Explanation

A detail is a small fact or spot in a larger entity. That ambiguous smile is just one detail of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Detail comes from the French for cutting into pieces, but in English we only use it to refer to the pieces. As a noun, detail means an isolated aspect of something larger. If you're painting a landscape, don't forget details like individual birds and trees. Detail can also mean a team of workers for a special task. If you go on a group camping trip, try for the food detail instead of the trash detail.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

detail details detailed detailing

Most Census Bureau reports identify the authors of the report and detail the reliability of the data they are using.

From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026

People do share in great detail here all the time, but yours is deeply personal.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

And because of that, because of the detail in the backstory, then the story I think pays off far greater.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Pacific Command, which oversees U.S. forces from India to Hawaii, declined to provide more detail on the status of U.S. infrastructure on the former base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

None of this need be gone into in detail, for the point of any journey is the taking of it.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Other world-model companies are reluctant to share details about the AIs they are building, but their acquisitions and the publications of their engineers give some hints.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

"We will be formally publishing details of the procedure so that veterinary colleagues around the world can learn from and build upon our approach," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Built in 1953, the home has retained the charm of its original details alongside the benefit of modern improvements.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

German authorities assume the weapons were linked to an attack plan, said Dobrindt, but gave no details about what might have been the target.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Nollie had no details, not how or where he had died, not even where he was buried.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

These data come on top of detailed second-quarter German GDP data on Tuesday and French GDP data on Friday, as well as a number of sentiment surveys.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

“While PDD is public, it does not provide a detailed breakdown of the metrics for Temu,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData’s U.S. retail and consumer unit, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

"A team of qualified doctors, including an ophthalmologist, a cardiologist and a physician, conducted a detailed examination of him and declared him medically fit," Tarar said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Some have sent a detailed proposal to the department setting out a "tapered" alternative scheme.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

In time, the pinpointing of control areas will become more and more detailed.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

On Aug. 14, the Wall St Journal published a report detailing how proprietary trading giant Jane Street lost $15 billion that month as it had become a significant investor in Situational Awareness LP.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

The United States alarmed its tropical island territories earlier this year, detailing plans to carve up parts of the Pacific Ocean for mining exploration.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

He said his department had provided Pirro’s office with “every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Grammy winner Steve Lacy joined the festivities during the film’s Hollywood premiere on Monday, detailing more than just his original song for the latest “Spider-Man” flick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Three weeks later, the team returned to the village with an assignment from their superiors: file a report detailing the villagers’ improvement in self-defense.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Related Words

• analyze
• delineate
• depict
• describe
• enumerate
• lay out
• portray
• recount
• relate
• reveal
• set forth
• spell out
• stipulate
• summarize
• tell
• uncover