attach Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb cause to be attached
  2. verb be attached; be in contact with
  3. verb become attached
    • The spider's thread attached to the window sill
  4. verb create social or emotional ties
    bind; bond; tie.
    • The grandparents want to bond with the child
  5. verb take temporary possession of as a security, by legal authority
    sequester; seize; confiscate; impound.
    • The FBI seized the drugs
    • The customs agents impounded the illegal shipment
    • The police confiscated the stolen artwork

WordNet

At*tach" transitive verb
Etymology
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.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Attached present participle & verbal noun Attaching
Definitions
  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.
    A huge stone to which the cable was attached. 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. 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. Obs. Shak.
  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. Miss Yonge.
    Syn. -- To affix; bind; tie; fasten; connect; conjoin; subjoin; annex; append; win; gain over; conciliate.
At*tach" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To adhere; to be attached.
    The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted. Brougham.
  2. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest; as, dower will attach. Cooley.
At*tach" noun
Definitions
  1. An attachment. Obs. Pope.

Webster 1913