attach
/əˈtatʃ
/verb [with object]
1Join or fasten (something) to something else: attach your safety line to the bridge...
- There is also continued debate about whether they should be straight or helical, and about how best, mechanically, to align and attach them.
- They admitted attaching two boards to roadside railings in St Paul's Cray and were ordered to pay fines of £600 and costs totalling £300.
- At the end of a two-day trial at Cirencester Magistrates Court, District Judge Paul Clark ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove that in attaching the flag she intended to disrupt or obstruct security at the base.
Synonyms
fasten, fix, affix, join, connect, couple, link, secure, make fast, tie, tie up, bind, fetter, strap, rope, tether, truss, lash, hitch, moor, anchor, yoke, chain;
stick, tape, adhere, glue, bond, cement, fuse, weld, solder;
pin, peg, screw, bolt, rivet, batten, pinion, clamp, clip;
add, append, annex, subjoin
1.1Add or fasten (a related document) to another, or to an email: I attach a copy of the memo for your information...
- Make sure it is printed on good quality A4 size paper and never attach extra documents, letters or certificates - save these for the interview.
- I attached the document he needed to send and I copied him in so he'd know it had been sent.
- I am attaching three documents that can be used to circulate this information.
1.2Include (a condition) as part of an agreement: the Commission can attach appropriate conditions to the operation of the agreement...
- When he first discussed the seminar with a senior officer from another government, there were conditions attached, appropriate rank being one of them.
- But there were still certain conditions to be attached, so far as most of the female players were concerned.
- It attached 21 conditions, including the relocation of a planned crèche and nursing home.
1.3 (attach oneself to) Accompany (a person or group) without being invited: they were all too ready to attach themselves to you for the whole day...
- Many of the characters in the book - the people he meets and attaches himself to along the way - will be dead in a decade.
- Now the weaknesses have overwhelmed them and Williams has become a raving, paranoid, conspiratorial embarrassment to himself and to any cause he attaches himself to.
- You are a princess, and whether you like it or not, you were born for a greater purpose than frolicking around with that no good, filthy lummox you have attached yourself to.
1.4Appoint (someone) for special or temporary duties: I was attached to another working group...
- I was attached as security detail to the civil affairs team as they toured the little town nearby.
Synonyms
assign, allot, allocate, detail, appoint;
relocate, reassign, transfer, move, send, second, lend
2 (attach something to) Attribute importance or value to: he doesn’t attach too much importance to fixed ideas...
- But any country that attaches any importance to the universal values of human rights should keep a close eye on them, and be willing to speak up whenever their words differ from their actions.
- In a Scotland context, he has been criticised for not attaching sufficient importance to goalkicking.
- This goes to the heart of why Graydon attaches such importance to the event.
2.1 [no object] (attach to) (Of importance or value) be attributed to: a good deal of prominence attaches to the central union federations...
- However, the 5% rate attaches to the value of the house only, not the contents.
- The value which attaches to them can - up to a point - be measured in a price tag.
- Judging whether any value attaches to the use made of it in these other spheres in any case depends on first understanding the ideas themselves.
Synonyms
ascribe, assign, attribute, accredit, apply, impute;
invest with, put on, place on, lay on
3 Law, archaic Seize (a person or property) by legal authority: the Earl Marshal attached Gloucester for high treason...
- Buffalo City is successfully recovering money from defaulting ratepayers by attaching their properties.
- To recover the alleged stolen money, he said the unit had attached all Stone's properties here and in Port Elizabeth.
- They also attached property belonging to Naomi Worth, worth close to a million rand, including a Northcrest house.
Synonyms
seize, confiscate, commandeer, requisition, appropriate, expropriate, take possession of, take away, take, sequester, sequestrate;
Law distrain, disseize;
Scottish Law poind
Derivatives
attachable
/ adjective ...- So I bought an attachable flash and became the only person with a non-snazzy camera to avoid red eye.
- If you're planning to use your hand-held computer to write papers, it's best to invest in an attachable pocket keyboard, which sells for about US $100.
- Anyone intending to write e-mails of any reasonable length is probably going to need an attachable keyboard, for instance, rather than use the built-in keypad.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'seize by legal authority'): from Old French atachier or estachier 'fasten, fix', based on an element of Germanic origin related to stake1; compare with attack.
attack from early 17th century:
This is from French attaquer (from Italian attaccare ‘join battle’). The base is an element of Germanic origin shared by attach (Middle English); ‘joining’ is a key sense.