detach

play

verb de·tach \ di-ˈtach , dē- \

Definition of detach

transitive verb

1 :to separate especially from a larger mass and usually without violence or damage

2 :disengage, withdraw

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detachability

play \-ˌta-chə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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detachable

play \-ˈta-chə-bəl\ adjective

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detachably

play \-blē\ adverb

See detach defined for English-language learners

See detach defined for kids

Examples of detach in a Sentence

Detach the upper part of the form and return it with your payment.
During the accident the trailer was detached from the car.
The brush detaches from the vacuum cleaner for easy cleaning.
It can be difficult to detach yourself from the chaos of the situation.
She has been trying to detach herself from an abusive relationship.

Recent Examples of detach from the Web

Four years later, Bush was widely viewed as detached during his handling of Hurricane Katrina (especially in a photo of him looking out the window of Air Force One), and his reputation never recovered.

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "Trump's Empathy Deficit," 29 Aug. 2017
The touchscreen Surface tablet with a slender detachable keyboard was introduced in 2012, followed in 2015 by the Surface Book which was more of a laptop with a full keyboard that could be detached.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "Consumer Reports Says Microsoft Laptops Are Unreliable," 10 Aug. 2017
Meijer has recalled newborn, infant and toddler swimsuits following reports that the snaps can detach, posing a choking hazard.

— ann zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, "Meijer recalls newborn, infant, toddler swimsuits," 8 Aug. 2017
Gently pry quarters open without detaching flesh from stem; season with salt.

— andy baraghani, Bon Appetit, "Spiced Baby Eggplants," 10 July 2017
And his savvy choice of No I.D. — who worked on much of Vince Staples’ boundary-pushing 2015 album Summertime ’06 — as the project’s producer guarantees that 4:44 isn’t completely detached from modern hip-hop.

— eric renner brown, PEOPLE.com, "JAY-Z's 4:44 Is More Socially Than Musically Progressive — and Hip-Hop Needs That Now," 30 June 2017
From the outside, the suite appears detached from the main house and partially hovers above the entrance.

— jennifer boehm, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Coral Gables mansion featuring 'floating' master bedroom lists for $14M," 28 June 2017
My doctor had to stick his entire arm in me and detach the placenta with his hand, scraping it away from my uterus with his fingernails.

— stephanie petit, EW.com, "Kim Kardashian, Kanye West hire surrogate to carry third child," 22 June 2017
Do these moves reflect common sense, hands-off management – or a White House that’s too detached from important military decisions?

— peter grier, The Christian Science Monitor, "Civilian oversight of military: How Trump is testing its minimum levels," 21 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'detach.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.