• Attach

    Pronunciation

    • RP IPA: /əˈtætʃ/
    • Rhymes: -ætʃ

    Origin

    From Old French atachier (French: attacher, Italian: attaccare, Spanish: atacar, Portuguese atacar).

    Full definition of attach

    Verb

    1. (obsolete, legal) To arrest, seize.
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.xii:Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait,
        Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait ...
      • 1610, , by William Shakespeare, act 3 scene 2Old lord, I cannot blame thee,
        Who am myself attach'd with weariness
        To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
      • Miss YongeThe earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.
    2. (transitive) To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
      • PaleyThe shoulder blade is ... attached only to the muscles.
      • Macaulaya huge stone to which the cable was attached
      • 2013, Lee S. Langston, The Adaptable Gas Turbine, Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
    3. You need to attach the carabiner to your harness.
    4. (intransitive) To adhere; to be attached.
      • BroughamThe great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.
    5. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.Dower will attach.
    6. To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; with to.attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
      • Jane Austenincapable of attaching a sensible man
      • CowperGod ... by various ties attaches man to man.
    7. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
      • Bayard TaylorTo this treasure a curse is attached.
    8. (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.

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