detach
Americanverb (used with object)
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to unfasten and separate; disengage; disunite.
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Military. to send away (a regiment, ship, etc.) on a special mission.
verb
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to disengage and separate or remove, as by pulling; unfasten; disconnect
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military to separate (a small unit) from a larger, esp for a special assignment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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detachabilitynoun
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detachernoun
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nondetachabilitynoun
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predetachverb (used with object)
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detachableadjective
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nondetachableadjective
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self-detachingadjective
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undetachableadjective
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detachablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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detachsimple
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detachessimple
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have detachedperfect
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has detachedperfect
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am detachingprogressive
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are detachingprogressive
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is detachingprogressive
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have been detachingperfect progressive
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has been detachingperfect progressive
Past
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detachedsimple
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had detachedperfect
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was detachingprogressive
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were detachingprogressive
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had been detachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detach
1470–80; < Middle French détacher, Old French destachier; see dis- 1, attach
Explanation
If you separate one thing from another, you are detaching it. As a newborn baby, you became familiar with this concept as soon as your umbilical cord was cut! You can use the word detach to talk about physically pulling two things apart. For example, when your shirt comes back from the dry cleaner missing a few buttons, it’s safe to assume they got detached during the cleaning process. This word is easy to remember when you consider its antonym attach. Once you have attached that election pin to your lapel, you better detach it when your candidate loses!
Vocabulary lists containing detach
de-
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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:
“Especially when people are laid off, the first thing many do is roll over,” said Christopher Bahnsen, an adviser in Arvada, Colo. “Emotionally, these people want to detach from that employer.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
The Dragon effectively functions as a lifeboat - attached to the station but ready to detach the moment the order is given.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The team was about to take her to the operating room when he was finally able to detach it.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
As smaller pieces detach, the larger plate loses the force pulling it downward.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2026
We were seated by the fire, as just now described, and Miss Havisham still had Estella’s arm drawn through her own, and still clutched Estella’s hand in hers, when Estella gradually began to detach herself.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
By losing control, they exposed how fragile authorship becomes once ownership detaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
From the surface displacements, the researchers could glean clues to what was happening 1000 meters below, near the so-called grounding line—the spot where the frozen behemoth detaches from bedrock.
From Science Magazine ● May 19, 2024
When, for example, a leaf detaches from a tree and falls to the ground, it begins to break down immediately.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
As the soil dries, the thistle dies and detaches from the root.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
One of the pale shapes detaches from the others and swims toward her, but my shadow in the water makes it hesitate.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
The sprawling compound comes with a detached three-bedroom guesthouse, an office with an apartment above the garage, and expansive terraces.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
A man was nearly sucked out the window of a Ryanair flight when it "detached" mid-air en route to Germany, with other passengers pulling him back inside, witnesses and officials said Friday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
On a tree-lined street in the affluent Duboce Triangle residential neighbourhood of San Francisco, the top half of a white, Edwardian-era, detached house was drawing visitors from prospective buyers.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Holt’s work extends the tradition of American landscape art by being both in and of its subject, and by making the viewer an active participant rather than a detached observer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Natural history thus slowly detached itself from the wider world of learning and began to form an enclave on its own.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The ant reacts aggressively, biting the cone and accidentally detaching it from the anchor point.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Visual effects company Weta created the effect of Vecna’s head detaching from his body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
President Nawrocki said he could see Europe "detaching" itself from the United States and said this was good neither for the economic security nor thge military security of the European Union.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
Investigators have said the accident was caused by one of the engines catching fire and detaching during takeoff.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
“Okay, okay,” said Papa, detaching Mama from Mr. Beiderman’s neck.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
