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Webster 1913 Edition


Attach

At-tach′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Attached
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Attaching
.]
[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.
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.
Attached column
(Arch.)
,
a column engaged in a wall, so that only a part of its circumference projects from it.
Syn. – To affix; bind; tie; fasten; connect; conjoin; subjoin; annex; append; win; gain over; conciliate.

At-tach′

,
Verb.
I.
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.
An attachment.
[Obs.]
Pope.

Webster 1828 Edition


Attach

ATTACH'

,
Verb.
T.
[Gr.; L. tango, for tago, Eng. tack; &c. See attack and Tack.
1.
To take by legal authority; to arrest the person by writ, to answer for a debt; applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being never used for the arrest of a criminal. It is applied also to the taking of goods and real estate by an officer, by virtue of a writ or precept, to hold the same to satisfy a judgment to be rendered in the suit.
2.
To take, seize and lay hold on, by moral force, as by affection or interest; to win the heart; to fasten or bind by moral influence; as, attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery.
3.
To make to adhere; to tie, bind or fasten; as, to attach substances by any glutinous matter; to attach one thing to another by a string.

Definition 2024


attach

attach

English

Verb

attach (third-person singular simple present attaches, present participle attaching, simple past and past participle attached)

  1. (obsolete, law) To arrest, seize.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.xii:
      Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait, / Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait []
    • 1610, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, act 3 scene 2
      Old lord, I cannot blame thee, / Who am myself attach'd with weariness / To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
    • Miss Yonge
      The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.
  2. (transitive) To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
    An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
    You need to attach the carabiner to your harness.
  3. (intransitive) To adhere; to be attached.
    • Brougham
      The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.
  4. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
    Dower will attach.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Cooley to this entry?)
  5. 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.
    attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
    • Jane Austen
      incapable of attaching a sensible man
    • Cowper
      God [] by various ties attaches man to man.
  6. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
    to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
    • Bayard Taylor
      To this treasure a curse is attached.
  7. (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

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