attach
VerbOpen English WordNet
Verb (5)attaches, attached, attaching
- cause to be attachedOpposite detachMore general connect, linkMore specific fasten, glue, tag, insert, mount, hitch, nail, affix, append, bind +16 more
- be attached; be in contact withMore general touch, adjoinMore specific leech onto
- become attached“The spider's thread attached to the window sill”Opposite come awayMore general join, conjoinMore specific adhere, fasten, spat, implant, agglutinate
- create social or emotional ties“The grandparents want to bond with the child”Synonyms: bindtiebondMore general relateMore specific cling, befriend, fixate
- take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority“The FBI seized the drugs”“The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment”“The police confiscated the stolen artwork”Synonyms: impoundsequesterconfiscateseizeMore general takeMore specific garnishee, distrain, condemnSimilar sequester
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Verb to fasten, to join to
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OF. atachier, F. attacher, to tie or fasten: cf. Celt. tac, tach, nail, E. tack a small nail, tack to fasten. Cf. Attack, and see Tack.
1. To bind, fasten, tie, or connect; to make fast or join; as, to attach one thing to another by a string, by glue, or the like.
The shoulder blade is... attached only to the muscles.— Paley, William
A huge stone to which the cable was attached.— Thomas Babington Macaulay
2. To connect; to place so as to belong; to assign by authority; to appoint; as, an officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
3. 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; as, attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery.
Incapable of attaching a sensible man.— Miss Austen.
God... by various ties attaches man to man.— William Cowper
4. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; — with to; as, to attach great importance to a particular circumstance.
Top this treasure a curse is attached.— Bayard Taylor.
5. To take, seize, or lay hold of. obsolete William Shakespeare
6. To take by legal authority: (a) To arrest by writ, and bring before a court, as to answer for a debt, or a contempt; — applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being now rarely used for the arrest of a criminal. (b) To seize or take (goods or real estate) by virtue of a writ or precept to hold the same to satisfy a judgment which may be rendered in the suit. See Attachment, 4.
The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.— Charlotte Mary Yonge
Attached column Architecture, a column engaged in a wall, so that only a part of its circumference projects from it.
Synonyms: To affix; bind; tie; fasten; connect; conjoin; subjoin; annex; append; win; gain over; conciliate.
1. To adhere; to be attached.
The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.— Lord Henry Brougham
2. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest; as, dower will attach. Thomas M. Cooley
An attachment. obsolete Alexander Pope
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54