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.
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.
At*tach", n. An attachment. [Obs.]
Pope.
