Attach
(At*tach") v. 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.
Attach
(At*tach") v. 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.
Attach
(At*tach"), n. An attachment. [Obs.] Pope.
Attachable
(At*tach"a*ble) a. Capable of being attached; esp., liable to be taken by writ or precept.
Attaché
(||At`ta*ché") n. [F., p. p. of attacher. See Attach, v. t.] One attached to another person or
thing, as a part of a suite or staff. Specifically: One attached to an embassy.
Attachment
(At*tach"ment) n. [F. attachment.]