detach Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb cause to become detached or separated; take off
    • detach the skin from the chicken before you eat it
  2. verb separate (a small unit) from a larger, especially for a special assignment
    • detach a regiment
  3. verb come to be detached
    come away; come off.
    • His retina detached and he had to be rushed into surgery

WordNet

De*tach" transitive verb
Etymology
F. détacher (cf. It. distaccare, staccare); pref. dé (L. dis) + the root found also in E. attach. See Attach, and cf. Staccato.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Detached ; present participle & verbal noun Detaching
Definitions
  1. To part; to separate or disunite; to disengage; -- the opposite of attach; as, to detach the coats of a bulbous root from each other; to detach a man from a leader or from a party.
  2. To separate for a special object or use; -- used especially in military language; as, to detach a ship from a fleet, or a company from a regiment. Syn. -- To separate; disunite; disengage; sever; disjoin; withdraw;; draw off. See Detail.
De*tach" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To push asunder; to come off or separate from anything; to disengage.
    [A vapor] detaching, fold by fold, From those still heights. Tennyson.

Webster 1913