English Explanatory Dictionary

attach

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
  2. To adhere; to be attached.
  3. To include an attachment with a communication (especially an email or other electronic communication).
  4. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
  5. 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.
  6. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
  7. To take, seize, or lay hold of.
  8. To arrest, seize.

Pronunciation

/əˈtæt͡ʃ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-attach.wav

Word forms

attach attaches attaching attached

Etymology

From Middle English attachen, from Old French atachier, variant of estachier (“bind”), derived from estache (“stick”), from Frankish *stakkā, *stakō (“stick”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“pole, bar, stick, stake”). Doublet of attack. More at stake, stack. Displaced native Old English þīedan.

Synonyms

connect annex affix unite accouple assemble associate attach bewed bind clasp clinch combine conglomerate conglutinate conjoin construct couple entwine fay fix graft hitch hook inosculate interlink join joint knit knot link marry piece together piecen pinion put together splice wed yoke cling stick adhere bond cleave cohere glue hug stick together stick with chalk up to draw impute accredit ascribe attribute charge lay put down to repose

Antonyms

detach unfasten disengage separate decouple disconnect rip off tear off unconnect uncouple unhitch

Related words

attachment

Derived words

attachability attachable attached annulus attacher attachingness attachment deattach disattach get attached no string attached no-strings-attached no strings attached reattach re-attach semi-attached string attached strings attached unattach would lose one's head if it wasn't attached
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