v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Detached p. pr. & vb. n. Detaching. ] [ F. détacher (cf. It. distaccare, staccare); pref. dé (L. dis) + the root found also in E. attach. See Attach, and cf. Staccato. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To push asunder; to come off or separate from anything; to disengage. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ A vapor ] detaching, fold by fold,
From those still heights. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That can be detached. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Separate; unconnected, or imperfectly connected; as, detached parcels. “Extensive and detached empire.” Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Detached escapement. See Escapement. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. détachement. ] 1. The act of detaching or separating, or the state of being detached. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is detached; especially, a body of troops or part of a fleet sent from the main body on special service. [ 1913 Webster ]

Troops . . . widely scattered in little detachments. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation. [ 1913 Webster ]

A trial which would have demanded of him a most heroic faith and the detachment of a saint. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]