detach, v.
(dɪˈtætʃ)
In 5 distache.
[a. F. détache-r, earlier destacher, destachier (12th c. in Godef.) = Pr., Sp. destacar, It. distaccare, f. Rom. des-, L. dis- (dis-) + Rom. tacca, F. tache nail, tack, fixed point, spot. Cf. attach. Used by Caxton in form distache from OF. des- (see des-); but the existing word appears to have been adopted from modern F. late in the 17th c.]
1. trans. To unfasten and separate; to disconnect, disengage, disunite. lit. and fig.
| [c 1477 Caxton Jason 115 b, He distached and ripte it of.] 1686 F. Spence tr. Varilla's Ho. Medicis 75 Coglione detach'd himself out, for the viewing him the better. 1691–8 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 219 We must now Detache and disingage our Hearts from the Creatures. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vii. 333 The testimony of S. Paul is to be considered as detached from that of the rest of the Apostles. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 6 The flints..I can readily conceive to have been detached from mountains very distant from them. 1797 Mann in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 446 The French have long sought to detach Austria from England. 1798 Lamb Rosamund Gray xi, [It] only tends to soften and tranquillise my mind, to detach me from the restlessness of human pursuits. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 335 The caloric endeavours to detach carbonic acid from the lime. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 258 Nor could Kara George venture to detach himself from the Russians. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 575 Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire were afterwards again detached from Northumberland. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 314 A failure to detach both hooks simultaneously may lead to the swamping of the boat. |
2. Mil. and
Naval. To separate and send off (a part from a main body) for a special purpose; to draw off (a regiment, a ship, or the like) for some special mission. Also
transf.| 1684 Scanderbeg Rediv. vi. 145 A Body of Foot and Dragoons was Detached to Attacque their Cannon. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece i. xxvi. (1715) 181 The Chivalry shall be detacht out of the most puissant and wealthy Athenians. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To detach (Fr. in the Art of War), to make a Detachment, to send away a Party of Soldiers upon a particular Expedition. 1727 H. Bland Milit. Disc. xix. 287 When Battalions are Detach'd for the covering of the General's Quarters, it only goes for a Tour of Fatigue. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. (1845) 148 She was immediately detached to look out for a convenient place. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 257 During this the front line detaches skirmishers. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 678 Several regiments..detached from the army which had lately besieged Limerick. |
| absol. 1809 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. IV. 400 If they should venture to detach, they will lose both kingdoms. |
3. intr. (for
refl.) To disengage and separate oneself, to become disconnected.
| 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin iii, Detaching, fold by fold, From those still heights, and slowly drawing near. |
Hence
deˈtaching vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1873) VI. xv. xi. 62 Stronger than they by their detachings. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. Boat-detaching Hook, one adapted to be suddenly cast loose when a boat lowered from the davits touches the water. 1884 Pall Mall G. 25 July 11/1 The detaching shaft springs back. 1890 Athenæum 21 June 795/3 That detaching and absorbing interest which from time to time is necessary to physical and mental well-being. |