əˈtach verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English attachen, from Middle French attacher, from Old French atachier, alteration (influenced by a to, from Latin ad ) of estachier, from estache stake, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English staca stake — more at at , stake
transitive verb
1. : to take by legal authority:
a. : to arrest by writ and bring before a court (as to answer for a debt or a contempt) — now applied chiefly to a taking of the person by a civil process
b. : to seize or take (property) by virtue of a writ or precept to hold the same to satisfy a judgment that may be rendered in the suit — compare attachment 1
2. obsolete
a. : indict , accuse
of capital treason I attach you both — Shakespeare
b. : to lay hold of : seize
him to attach and down to hell to throw — Edmund Spenser
3.
a. : to bring (oneself) into an association
consider to what branch of the law to attach himself
b. : to fasten (itself) firmly
a figure of universal fame, of a kind that scarcely attaches itself to anyone in this age — Osbert Sitwell
c. : to order (an individual or unit in the military) to serve more or less temporarily with another organization
d. : to place (an individual or unit in the military) under the control of another organization for specific purposes (as for rations, quarters, or training) — distinguished from assign
4. : to bind by personal ties (as of affection or sympathy) : win to affection or devotion — used with to
she undertakes to attach him to her by strong ties: a child, or marriage — H.M.Parshley
5. : make fast or join (as by string or glue) : bind , fasten , tie
attach price tags on each article
6. : to connect by attribution : ascribe — used with to
the fetish worshiper attaches magical potency to stones — M.R.Cohen
7. : to associate as a property or adjunct
to this treasure a curse is attached — Bayard Taylor
intransitive verb
1. : to fix or fasten itself : adhere
the suspicion that he is guilty attaches upon his strange actions
all the advantages that attach to the office
2. : to come into legal operation : vest
an ancient law attached in this case
Synonyms: see fasten