an individual or minute part; an item or particular.
particulars collectively; minutiae.
attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts: to postpone detail and concentrate on a subject as a whole.
intricate, finely wrought decoration.
Engineering. detail drawing.
any small section of a larger structure or whole, considered as a unit.
Military.
an appointment or assignment, as of a small group or an officer, for a special task.
the party or person so selected: the kitchen detail.
a particular assignment of duty.
the property of an image or of a method of image production to make small, closely spaced image elements individually distinguishable.
verb (used with object)
to relate or report with complete particulars; tell fully and distinctly.
to mention one by one; specify; list: He detailed the events leading up to the robbery.
Military. to appoint or assign for some particular duty: We were detailed to patrol the border.
to provide with intricate, finely wrought decoration: lingerie detailed with lace and embroidery.
to thoroughly clean (a vehicle or part of a vehicle) and do minor repairs to improve its appearance: We detail the wheels and chrome to remove the rust.
Idioms for detail
in detail, item by item; with particulars: The résumé stated his qualifications in detail.
Origin of detail
1595–1605; <French détail, Old French, noun derivative of detailler ‘to cut in pieces’, equivalent to de- dis-1 + tailler ‘to cut’ <Vulgar Latin *taliāre; see tailor1