detach 
special duty; to detach an officer from a ship 
or station. 
If ten men arc in war with forty, and the latter detach 
only an equal number to the engagement, what benefit do 
they receive from their superiority? Addison. 
=Syn. 1. To sever, withdraw, draw off, disjoin, discon- 
nect, unhitch. 2. To detail. 
II. intrans. To become detached or separated; 
separate or disunite itself crone's self. [Bare.] 
Detaching, fold by fold, 
From those still heights, and slowly drawing near, 
A vapour heavy, hueless, formless, cold, 
Came floating on. Tennyson, Vision of Sin, iii. 
detachability (de-tach-a-bil'i-ti), n. [< detach- 
able: see butty.] The capability of being de- 
tached ; detachable character or condition : as, 
the detachability of the parts of a thing. 
It is believed that the feature of detachability, as ar- 
ranged in the Lee system, will particularly commend itself 
to the minds of military authorities. 
Farrow, Mil. Encyc., II. 194. 
detachable (de-tach'a-bl), a. [< detach + -able.'] 
Capable of being detached or separated. 
Dante is not so absolutely individual as to seem to us de- 
tachable from his time ; he was led up to through genera- 
tions of Florentine history. W. Sharp, I). G. Rossctti, p. 39. 
detached (de-tachf), p. a. [< detach + -ed*.] 
1. Disjoined or dissociated; not united or not 
contiguous ; being or becoming separate ; unat- 
tached: as, detached rocks or portions of rock; 
a detached house ; detached bodies of troops. 
The Europeans live in detached houses, each surrounded 
by walls inclosing large gardens. W. 11. Russell. 
A detached body of the French lying in their way, there 
followed a very sharp engagement. 
Bp. Burnet, Hist. Own Times, an. 1709. 
2. Of a separate character; belonging to a 
detached person or body : chiefly military : as, 
to be employed on detached service or duty; 
a detached mission. -Detached bastion, escape- 
ment, etc. See the nouns. Detached coefficients, 
in alg., coefficients written down without the literal fac- 
tors, for the sake of brevity. 
detachedly (de-tach'ed-li), adv. In a separate 
or isolated form or manner; disconnectedly. 
Brief notices of different particulars of this case are given 
detachedly by Rushworth and Whitelocke. 
State Trials, Judge Jenkins, an. 1647. 
detaching-hook (de-tach'ing-huk), n. 1. A 
safety-appliance for releasing a hoisting-cage 
when the hoisting-rope is overwound. 2. A 
device for releasing a horse from a vehicle. 
3. A device for releasing a boat from a ship's 
davits. 
detachment (de-tach'raent), n. [< F. detache- 
ment (= Sp. Pg. destacamento = It. distacca- 
mento), < detacher, detach: see detach.] 1. The 
act of detaching, unfastening, or disconnect- 
ing. 2. The state of being detached or apart ; 
in recent use, a state of separation or with- 
drawal from association or relation with some- 
thing. 
The same quiet clearness, the detachment from error, of 
a woman whose self-scrutiny has been as sharp as her de- 
flection. The Century, XXX. 267. 
Her detachment, her air of having no fatuous illusions, 
and not being blinded by prejudice, seemed to me at times 
to amount to an affectation. 
H. James, Jr., Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 342. 
3. That which is detached; specifically, a 
body of troops selected or taken from the main 
army or body, and employed on some special 
service or expedition, or a number of ships 
taken from a fleet and sent on a separate ser- 
vice. 
A strong detachment of Sarsfleld's troops approached. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ix. 
Sparta . . . sent a detachment to support the partisans 
of aristocracy in Argolis, Achaia, and Arcadia. 
J. Adams, Works, IV. 497. 
4. An order detaching an officer from duty at 
a given station. Gun detachment, the men detailed 
for the service of a gun or mortar. 
detail (de-tal'), v. [< OF. detaillier, detainer, 
detailher, destaillier, F. detailler (=Sp. detallar= 
Pg. detalhar = It. distagliare, stagliare, cut up, 
divide, cf. dettagliare, after F., detail, cut up, 
retail, narrate in particulars), < de-, L. dis-, 
apart, + tattler, cut : see taiP, tailor, tally, and 
cf. retail.] I. trans. 1. To divide or set off; 
specifically, to set apart for a particular ser- 
vice; appoint to a separate duty: chiefly in 
military use: as, to detail a corporal's guard 
for fatigue duty or as an escort ; to detail an 
officer. 2. To relate, report, or narrate in 
Earticulars ; recite the particulars of ; particu- 
irize ; tell fully and distinctly : as, to detail all 
the facts in due order. 
Strange as the events detailed in the succeeding narra- 
tive may appear, they are ... true to the letter. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 176. 
1570 
He detailed to them the history of all the past transac- 
tions. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 6. 
II. intrans. To give details or particulars 
about something. 
There were occasions when they (monastic writers] were 
inevitably graphic, when they detail like a witness in 
court. /. D'lsraeli, Amen, of Lit., I. 273. 
TO detail on the plane, in arch., to appear in profile 
or section on a plane, as a molding which abuts against 
the plane, or is cut by it. 
detail (de-tal' or de'tal), n. [= D. G. Dan. 
detail = 'Sw. detalj, < OF. detail, F. detail (= 
Sp. detalle = Pg. detallie = It. dettaglio), de- 
tail, retail ; from the verb.] 1. An individual 
part; an item; a particular: as, the account is 
accurate in all its details; the point objected 
to is an unimportant detail; collectively (with- 
out a plural), particulars; particulars consid- 
ered separately and in relation to the whole: 
as, a matter of detail. 
It is a fact of history and of observation that all effi- 
cient men, while they have been men of comprehension, 
have also been men of detail. 
Bus/null, Sermons for New Life, p. 288. 
2. In the fine arts, etc., a relatively small, sub- 
ordinate, and particular part, as distinguished 
from a general conception or from larger parts 
or effects ; also, such parts collectively (in the 
singular). 
One or two capitals show that the Ragusan architect 
knew of the actual Renaissance. But it was only in that 
one detail that he went astray. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 251. 
The Assyrian honeysuckle . . . forms as elegant an ar- 
chitectural detail as is anywhere to be found. 
J. Fergwsson, Hist. Arch., I. 264. 
In the works of Alma Tadema, the most careful study 
of antiquarian detail is united to an artist's vivid recollec- 
tion of the colour and sunshine of the South. 
P. G. Hamerton, Graphic Arts, iv. 
There is a castle at Nantes which resembles . . . that 
of Angers, . . . but has, . . . within, much more interest 
of detail. H. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 103. 
3. A minute account; a narrative or report of 
particulars: as, he gave a detail of all the trans- 
action. 
We spend the first five minutes in a detail of symptoms. 
Kane, Sec. Orinii. Exp., II. 93. 
4. Milit., the selection of an individual or a 
body of troops for a particular service; the 
person or persons so selected ; a detachment. 
The force so organized will constitute the guard of the 
line from Duckport to Milliken's Bend. They will fur- 
nish all the guards and details required for general hos- 
pitals. U. S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, I. 470. 
Details of a plan, in arch., drawings or delineations 
for the use of workmen. Otherwise called working-draw- 
ings. In detail. () Circumstantially; item by item. 
I was unable to treat this part of my subject more in 
detail without becoming dry and tedious. Pope, 
(b) Individually ; part by part. 
' ' Concentrate your own force, divide that of your enemy, 
and overwhelm him in detail," is the great principle of 
military action. Macdougall, Modern Warfare, iii. 
Office Of detail, in the United States Navy Department, 
the office where the roster of officers is kept, and from 
which orders to officers regarding their duty, leaves of 
absence, etc., are issued. = Syn. 3. Relation, recital. 4. 
detailed (de-tald'), p. a. [< detail + -ed2.~\ 1. 
Belated in particulars ; minutely recited: as, a 
detailed account. 2. Exact; minute; particu- 
lar. 
A detailed examination. Macanlay. 
A detailed picture of the inhabitants of the largest Arab 
city. E. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, Pref., p. iv. 
detailer (de-ta'ler), . One who details. 
Individuality was sunk in the number of detailers. 
Seward, Letters, VI. 136. 
detain (de-tan'), v. t. [< OF. detenir, detener, 
F. detenir = Sp. detener (cf. Pg. deter) = It. di- 
tenere, < L. detinere, hold off, keep back, detain, 
< de, off, + tenere, hold: see tenable, tenant. Cf. 
abstain, contain, obtain, pertain, retain, sustain, 
etc.] 1. To keep back or away ; withhold ; spe- 
cifically, to keep or retain unjustly. [Bare.] 
Detain not the wages of the hireling. 
Jer. Taylor. 
2. To keep or restrain from proceeding; stay 
or stop : as, we were detained by the rain. 
Those theeves, which her in bondage strong 
Detaynd. Spenser, F. Q., VI. xi. 2. 
Let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a 
kid for thee. Judges xiii. 15. 
Whole captive hosts the conqueror detains 
In painful bondage and inglorious chains. 
Addison, The Campaign. 
3. In law, to hold in custody. =Syn. 2. To retard, 
di-hiy, hinder, check, retain. 
detain t (de-tan'), n. [< detain, .] Detention. 
And gan enquire of him with mylder mood 
The certaine cause of Artegals detaine. 
Spemer, F. Q., V. vi. 15. 
detectible 
detainer 1 (de-ta'ner), ii. [< detain + -er'i, after 
OF. deteneor, detcneur, one who detains.] One 
who withholds ; one who detains, stops, or pre- 
vents from proceeding. 
The detainers of tithes, and cheaters of men's inherit- 
ances. Jer. Taylor. 
detainer 2 (de-ta'ner), n. [< OF. detener, inf. 
(used as a noun) : see detain, T. Cf . retainer^. ] 
In law : (a) A holding or keeping possession 
of what belongs to another ; detention of what 
is another's, though the original taking may 
be lawful. It usually implies wrongfulness. 
(ft) In Great Britain, a process lodged with the 
sheriff authorizing him to continue to hold a 
person already in his custody; specifically, a 
writ by which a prisoner arrested at the suit 
of one creditor may be detained at the suit of 
another Forcible detainer. See forcible. 
cletainmentt (de-tan'ment), n. [< OF. deter- 
ment, < detenir, detain: see detain and -ment.] 
The act of detaining; detention. 
Concerning our surprise, detainment, and escape. 
R. Knox (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 324). 
Though the original taking was lawful, any subsequent 
detainment of them after tender of amends is wrongful. 
Blackstone. 
Detarium (de-ta'ri-um), n. [NL., < detar, the 
native name in Senegal.] A genus of legu- 
minous trees of western Africa, of which only 
two species are known, 1). Kenegalense and D. 
mierocarpum. The former is a tree from 20 to 35 feet 
high, bearing a somewhat oval, fleshy, one-seeded fruit 
about the size of an apricot, of which there are two varie- 
ties, the one bitter and the other sweet. The sweet fruit 
is sold in the markets, and prized by the negroes, as well 
as eagerly sought after by monkeys and other animals. 
The bitter fruit is regarded as a violent poison. The 
wood of the tree is hard, and resembles mahogany. 
detastet (de-tasf), v. t. [Var. of distaste.'] To 
distaste ; dislike ; loathe. 
detect (de-tekf), v. t. [< L. detectus, pp. of 
detegere, uncover, expose, < de- priv. + tegere, 
cover: see tegument, tile, thatch.'] If. To un- 
cover; lay bare; expose; show. 
Sham'st thou not . . . 
To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart ? 
Shah., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 2. 
There's no true lover in the forest, else sighing every 
minute nnrt groaning every hour would detect the lazy 
foot of time as well as a clock. Stiak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 
Be sure, thou nothing of the Truth detect. 
Congreoe, Hymn to Venus. 
Where the divine vertue ... is not felt in the soul, 
and waited for, and lived in, imperfections will quickly 
break out, and shew themselves, and detect the unfaith- 
fulness of such persons. 
Penn, Rise and Progress of Quakers, vi. 
2. To discover ; find out ; ascertain the exis- 
tence, presence, or fact of: as, to detect an error 
in an account ; to detect the presence of arsenic. 
Though, should I hold my peace, yet thou 
Wouldst easily detect what I conceal. 
Milton, P. L., x. 136. 
Like following life through creatures you dissect, 
You lose it in the moment you detect. 
Pope, Moral Essays, i. 30. 
A good ear detects several gradations between tunes 
which to a bad ear seem alike. 
H. Spe.ncer, Prin. of Psychol., 92. 
Look in his face to meet thy neighbor's soul, 
Not on his garments, to detect a hole. 
O. W. Holmes, A Rhymed Lesson. 
3. To find out the action or character of; dis- 
cover a fault or wrong in ; unveil, as a person : 
as, to detect a man in the act of cheating; to 
detect a hypocrite. 
I will prevent this, detect my wife, be revenged on Fal- 
staff. Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 2. 
4f. To reveal the guilt or alleged guilt of; in- 
form against; complain of ; accuse. 
He was vntruly judged to have preached such articles 
as he was detected of. Sir 2'. More, Works, p. 112. 
But hast thou not betray 'd me, Foible ? Hast thou not 
detected me to that faithless Aiirabell? 
Conjreve, Way of the World, iii. r.. 
= Syn. 2. To find, ascertain, descry, make out, ferret out, 
penetrate. 
detectable, detectible (de-tek'ta-bl, -ti-bl), a. 
[< detect + -able, -ible.] That may be detected. 
Parties not detectable. Fuller. 
These errors are detectible at a glance. Latham. 
It is ... pretty well established . . . that in some of the 
minuter details of the lunar topography there are real 
changes in progress, detectable by just such observation 
[microscopic]. Kew Princeton Rev., I. 57. 
detected (de-tek'ted), a. [< detect, v., 1, + -/'-'.] 
Incntom., uncovered: applied to the hemelytrn 
of heteropterous Hemiptera when, as in most 
species, they are not covered by the scutellum: 
opposed to obtected. 
detecter (de-tek'ter), n. See detector. 
detectible, it. See detectable. 
