DETACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does detach mean? 

• DETACH (verb)
  The verb DETACH has 3 senses:

1. cause to become detached or separated; take off

2. separate (a small unit) from a larger, especially for a special assignment

3. come to be detached

  Familiarity information: DETACH used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DETACH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they detach    ... he / she / it detaches   
Past simple: detached   
Past participle: detached   
-ing form: detaching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to become detached or separated; take off

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

detach the skin from the chicken before you eat it

Hypernyms (to "detach" is one way to...):

disconnect (make disconnected, disjoin or unfasten)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "detach"):

break; break off; snap off (break a piece from a whole)

unbind (untie or unfasten)

unhook (take off a hook)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

attach (cause to be attached)

Derivation:

detachment (the act of releasing from an attachment or connection)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Separate (a small unit) from a larger, especially for a special assignment

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

detach a regiment

Hypernyms (to "detach" is one way to...):

divide; separate (make a division or separation)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

detachment (a small unit of troops of special composition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Come to be detached

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

come away; come off; detach

Context example:

His retina detached and he had to be rushed into surgery

Hypernyms (to "detach" is one way to...):

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "detach"):

blow off (come off due to an explosion or other strong force)

chop off; cut off; lop off (remove by or as if by cutting)

unsolder (remove the soldering from)

fall off (come off)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Antonym:

attach (become attached)

Derivation:

detachment (coming apart)

 Context examples 

Morphologically, it shows papillae with detached cell clusters.

(Borderline Ovarian Mixed Epithelial Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

"You should cultivate the scientific eye and the detached scientific mind," said he.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Bingley and Jane were standing together, a little detached from the rest, and talked only to each other.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Because they can be prevented from drifting further away by high places in the ocean floor, they can in turn prevent land-associated ice masses from becoming detached.

(Scientists describe how 'upside-down rivers' of warm water break Antarctica's ice shelf, Wikinews)

Nearing Earth's atmosphere seven years from now, a capsule containing the sample and equipped with a heat shield will detach from the main OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and enter Earth's atmosphere.

(Evening Launch Catapults OSIRIS-REx Toward Asteroid Encounter, NASA)

Briarbrae proved to be a large detached house standing in extensive grounds within a few minutes’ walk of the station.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Other enzymes called SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs) can then detach those tags, thereby decreasing SUMOylation.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)

Rearrangement in which part of a chromosome is detached by breakage and becomes attached to another chromosome.

(Chromosomal Translocation, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Issue associated with the device or one of its components failing to detach or separate as intended.

(Failure to Separate Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

I tried to scream and was vaguely aware of some hoarse croak which was my own voice, but distant and detached from myself.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)