From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
attachment
n 1: a feeling of affection for a person or an institution [syn:
fond regard]
2: a supplementary part or accessory
3: a writ authorizing the seizure of property that may be
needed for the payment of a judgment in a judicial
proceeding
4: a connection that fastens things together [syn: bond]
5: faithful support for a religion or cause or political party
[syn: adherence, adhesion]
6: the act of attaching or affixing something [syn:
affixation]
7: the act of fastening things together [syn: fastening]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Attachment \At*tach"ment\, n. [F. attachment.]
1. The act attaching, or state of being attached; close
adherence or affection; fidelity; regard; an? passion of
affection that binds a person; as, an attachment to a
friend, or to a party.
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2. That by which one thing is attached to another;
connection; as, to cut the attachments of a muscle.
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The human mind . . . has exhausted its forces in the
endeavor to rend the supernatural from its
attachment to this history. --I. Taylor.
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3. Something attached; some adjunct attached to an
instrument, machine, or other object; as, a sewing machine
attachment (i. e., a device attached to a sewing machine
to enable it to do special work, as tucking, etc.).
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4. (Giv. Law)
(a) A seizure or taking into custody by virtue of a legal
process.
(b) The writ or percept commanding such seizure or taking.
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Note: The term is applied to a seizure or taking either of
persons or property. In the serving of process in a
civil suit, it is most generally applied to the taking
of property, whether at common law, as a species of
distress, to compel defendant's appearance, or under
local statutes, to satisfy the judgment the plaintiff
may recover in the action. The terms attachment and
arrest are both applied to the taking or apprehension
of a defendant to compel an appearance in a civil
action. Attachments are issued at common law and in
chancery, against persons for contempt of court. In
England, attachment is employed in some cases where
capias is with us, as against a witness who fails to
appear on summons. In some of the New England States a
writ of attachment is a species of mesne process upon
which the property of a defendant may be seized at the
commencement of a suit and before summons to him, and
may be held to satisfy the judgment the plaintiff may
recover. In other States this writ can issue only
against absconding debtors and those who conceal
themselves. See Foreign, Garnishment, {Trustee
process}. --Bouvier. --Burrill. --Blackstone.
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Syn: Attachment, Affection.
Usage: The leading idea of affection is that of warmth and
tenderness; the leading idea of attachment is that of
being bound to some object by strong and lasting ties.
There is more of sentiment (and sometimes of romance)
in affection, and more of principle in preserving
attachment. We speak of the ardor of the one, and the
fidelity of the other. There is another distinction in
the use and application of these words. The term
attachment is applied to a wider range of objects than
affection. A man may have a strong attachment to his
country, to his profession, to his principles, and
even to favorite places; in respect to none of these
could we use the word affection.
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