detach

verb

Definition of detachnext
1
as in to remove
to take (something) away from or off of something else to which it is joined Detach the lower portion of the invoice and send it back with your payment.

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2
as in to disengage
to avoid engaging with or participating in something They were reticent people, completely detached from social life.

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of detach Smaller pieces of the roof broke apart as sections detached from the main frame of the building. — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026 Woltanski suggests detaching the voucher from the state funding formula entirely. — Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026 Peeling occurred in nearly two dozen spots, where layers of coating separated from each other or detached from the basin. — Amy Brittain, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026 In my tests, the speakers initially worked only when attached, even though the projector reported they were still connected after being physically detached. — M. David Stone, PC Magazine, 4 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for detach
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detach
  1. remove
  2. disengage
  3. divide
  4. disentangle
  5. separate
  6. withdraw
  7. split
  8. flee
Verb
  • The woman contacted her 72-year-old father, who came out of the house to remove Gonzalez.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • While no service can promise to remove all your data from the internet, a data removal service can monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of remove
Verb
  • During a flight from Moscow to Hong Kong in March, 1994, the pilot allowed his teen-age son to sit at the controls of the plane, and the boy unknowingly disengaged the autopilot.
    — Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • With the throne disengaged from governance, petitions and reports from officials piled up unread, crucial state posts went unfilled, and the imperial bureaucracy splintered amid poisonous factional infighting.
    — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of disengage
Verb
  • In the case of Yemen, the ground fighters inside the country who are taking on the Houthis are deeply divided and fought each other as recently as January.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Forty years ago, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met at Höfði House, representing rival nuclear superpowers divided by decades of distrust.
    — Halla Tómasdóttir, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of divide
Verb
  • Pawlikowski’s mother and father, also named Zula and Wiktor, whose unmanageable love had kept them tangled and disentangled for decades, took their own lives in 1989, as the Cold War that had cast its chill upon their time was beginning to thaw.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • His remarks escalated a confrontation over New York’s efforts to disentangle local police from federal immigration enforcement.
    — María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of disentangle
Verb
  • We are connected across continents in milliseconds, but too often separated by fear, anger, and mistrust.
    — Halla Tómasdóttir, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Initially, Jessie’s overriding goal was simply to win back playtime with Bonnie, especially after becoming separated from her during a dance class.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of separate
Verb
  • The Republican governor did not provide a reason for withdrawing Thompson’s death warrant but had temporarily stayed his execution last month pending a psychiatric evaluation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • According to online court records, two of the three cases were settled and one was withdrawn.
    — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of withdraw
Verb
  • The interface splits each 2-core fiber into two single-core fibers inside the repeater for efficient amplification, then merges them back into 2-core fibers.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Wanda, a donkey, and Max, a horse, split their time between a farm upstate and a stable in the Bronx.
    — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of split
Verb
  • The case centers on the Cuban government shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue flights, a civilian rescue group dedicated to saving refugees fleeing the authoritarian Castro regime — then run by Raul Castro’s older brother Fidel.
    — Liv Caputo Herald, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Several reports say the attackers arrived on a motorcycle and fled after firing.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of flee

Browse Nearby Words

desultory
detach
detachable
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Cite this Entry

“Detach.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detach. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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