detach

 
Pronunciation: /dɪˈtatʃ/

verb

[with object]
  • 1disengage (something or part of something) and remove it: he detached the front lamp from its bracket figurative a willingness to detach comment from political allegiance
  • [no object] be easily removable: the screen detaches from the keyboard
  • 2 (detach oneself from) leave or separate oneself from (a group or place): a figure in brown detached itself from the shadows figurative the newspaper detached itself from the political parties
  • (be detached) Military (of a group of soldiers or ships) be sent on a separate mission: our crew were detached to Tabuk for the exercise

Derivatives

detachability

noun

detachable

adjective

Origin:

late 16th century (in the sense 'discharge a gun'): from French détacher, earlier destacher, from des- (expressing reversal) + attacher 'attach'

Spelling help

The ending of detach should be spelled -ach.