%atta%

n. See Atabal. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ It., fr. attaccare to tie, bind. See Attach. ] (Mus.) Attack at once; -- a direction at the end of a movement to show that the next is to follow immediately, without any pause. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attached p. pr. & vb. n. Attaching. ] [ OF. atachier, F. attacher, to tie or fasten: cf. Celt. tac, tach, nail, E. tack a small nail, tack to fasten. Cf. Attack, and see Tack. ] 1. To bind, fasten, tie, or connect; to make fast or join; as, to attach one thing to another by a string, by glue, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shoulder blade is . . . attached only to the muscles. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

A huge stone to which the cable was attached. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To connect; to place so as to belong; to assign by authority; to appoint; as, an officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; -- with to; as, attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery. [ 1913 Webster ]

Incapable of attaching a sensible man. Miss Austen. [ 1913 Webster ]

God . . . by various ties attaches man to man. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; -- with to; as, to attach great importance to a particular circumstance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Top this treasure a curse is attached. Bayard Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To take, seize, or lay hold of. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To take by legal authority: (a) To arrest by writ, and bring before a court, as to answer for a debt, or a contempt; -- applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being now rarely used for the arrest of a criminal. (b) To seize or take (goods or real estate) by virtue of a writ or precept to hold the same to satisfy a judgment which may be rendered in the suit. See Attachment, 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason. Miss Yonge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Attached column (Arch.), a column engaged in a wall, so that only a part of its circumference projects from it. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To affix; bind; tie; fasten; connect; conjoin; subjoin; annex; append; win; gain over; conciliate. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To adhere; to be attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted. Brougham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest; as, dower will attach. Cooley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An attachment. [ Obs. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being attached; esp., liable to be taken by writ or precept. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., p. p. of attacher. See Attach, v. t. ] One attached to another person or thing, as a part of a suite or staff. Specifically: One attached to an embassy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A flat, rectangular, usually rigid briefcase commonly used to carry documents for business purposes. [ PJC ]

adj. 1. fastened together. a picnic table with attached benches [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. being joined in close association; -- of people or organizations.
Syn. -- affiliated, connected [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. fastened onto another object; -- of objects smaller than the main object. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. (Architecture) connected by a common wall or passageway; -- used of buildings. detached [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. (Biology) permanently attached to a substrate; not free to move about. an attached oyster vagile
Syn. -- sessile [ WordNet 1.5 ]

6. associated in an exclusive sexual relationship; -- opposite of unattached. Narrower terms include: affianced, bespoken, betrothed, engaged, pledged, promised(predicate); married. Also See: loving.
Syn. -- committed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. attachment. ] 1. The act attaching, or state of being attached; close adherence or affection; fidelity; regard; an&unr_; passion of affection that binds a person; as, an attachment to a friend, or to a party. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That by which one thing is attached to another; connection; as, to cut the attachments of a muscle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The human mind . . . has exhausted its forces in the endeavor to rend the supernatural from its attachment to this history. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

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.). [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Attachment, Affection. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attacked p. pr. & vb. n. Attacking. ] [ F. attaquer, orig. another form of attacher to attack: cf. It. attacare to fasten, attack. See Attach, Tack a small nail. ] 1. To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault. “Attack their lines.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To assail with unfriendly speech or writing; to begin a controversy with; to attempt to overthrow or bring into disrepute, by criticism or satire; to censure; as, to attack a man, or his opinions, in a pamphlet. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To set to work upon, as upon a task or problem, or some object of labor or investigation. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To begin to affect; to begin to act upon, injuriously or destructively; to begin to decompose or waste. [ 1913 Webster ]

On the fourth of March he was attacked by fever. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hydrofluoric acid . . . attacks the glass. B. Stewart. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Attack, Assail, Assault, Invade. These words all denote a violent onset; attack being the generic term, and the others specific forms of attack. To attack is to commence the onset; to assail is to make a sudden and violent attack, or to make repeated attacks; to assault (literally, to leap upon) is to attack physically by a had-to-hand approach or by unlawful and insulting violence; to invade is to enter by force on what belongs to another. Thus, a person may attack by offering violence of any kind; he may assail by means of missile weapons; he may assault by direct personal violence; a king may invade by marching an army into a country. Figuratively, we may say, men attack with argument or satire; they assail with abuse or reproaches; they may be assaulted by severe temptations; the rights of the people may be invaded by the encroachments of the crown. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make an onset or attack. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. attaque. ] 1. The act of attacking, or falling on with force or violence; an onset; an assault; -- opposed to defense. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An assault upon one's feelings or reputation with unfriendly or bitter words. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A setting to work upon some task, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An access of disease; a fit of sickness. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The beginning of corrosive, decomposing, or destructive action, by a chemical agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being attacked. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. affected by disease.
Syn. -- infected. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who attacks. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ L. attagen a kind of bird, Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;. ] (Zool.) A species of sand grouse (Syrrghaptes Pallasii) found in Asia and rarely in southern Europe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Yataghan. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attained p. pr. & vb. n. Attaining. ] [ Of. atteinen, atteignen, atainen, OF. ateindre, ataindre, F. atteindre, fr. L. attingere; ad + tangere to touch, reach. See Tangent, and cf. Attinge, Attaint. ] 1. To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Is he wise who hopes to attain the end without the means? Abp. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. [ Obs. with a material object. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not well attaining his meaning. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at. “Canaan he now attains.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To overtake. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To reach in excellence or degree; to equal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Attain, Obtain, Procure. Attain always implies an effort toward an object. Hence it is not synonymous with obtain and procure, which do not necessarily imply such effort or motion. We procure or obtain a thing by purchase or loan, and we obtain by inheritance, but we do not attain it by such means. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach. [ 1913 Webster ]

If by any means they might attain to Phenice. Acts xxvii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor nearer might the dogs attain. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

To see your trees attain to the dignity of timber. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this. J. R. Green. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come or arrive, by an effort of mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it. Ps. cxxxix. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being attainable; attainableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being attained or reached by efforts of the mind or body; capable of being compassed or accomplished by efforts directed to the object. [ 1913 Webster ]

The highest pitch of perfection attainable in this life. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Obtainable. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

General Howe would not permit the purchase of those articles [ clothes and blankets ] in Philadelphia, and they were not attainable in the country. Marshall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being attainable; attainability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. ataindre, ateindre, to accuse, convict. Attainder is often erroneously referred to F. teindre tie stain. See Attaint, Attain. ] 1. The act of attainting, or the state of being attainted; the extinction of the civil rights and capacities of a person, consequent upon sentence of death or outlawry; as, an act of attainder. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly attainder was the inseparable consequence of a judicial or legislative sentence for treason or felony, and involved the forfeiture of all the real and personal property of the condemned person, and such “corruption of blood” that he could neither receive nor transmit by inheritance, nor could he sue or testify in any court, or claim any legal protection or rights. In England attainders are now abolished, and in the United States the Constitution provides that no bill of attainder shall be passed; and no attainder of treason (in consequence of a judicial sentence) shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stain or staining; state of being in dishonor or condemnation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He lived from all attainder of suspect. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bill of attainder, a bill brought into, or passed by, a legislative body, condemning a person to death or outlawry, and attainder, without judicial sentence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of attaining; the act of arriving at or reaching; hence, the act of obtaining by efforts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The attainment of every desired object. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is attained to, or obtained by exertion; acquirement; acquisition; (pl.), mental acquirements; knowledge; as, literary and scientific attainments. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Attainting. ] [ OE. atteynten to convict, fr. atteynt, OF. ateint, p. p. of ateindre, ataindre. The meanings 3, 4, 5, and 6 were influenced by a supposed connection with taint. See Attain, Attainder. ] 1. To attain; to get act; to hit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Old Law) To find guilty; to convict; -- said esp. of a jury on trial for giving a false verdict. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon sufficient proof attainted of some open act by men of his own condition. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) To subject (a person) to the legal condition formerly resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry, pronounced in respect of treason or felony; to affect by attainder. [ 1913 Webster ]

No person shall be attainted of high treason where corruption of blood is incurred, but by the oath of two witnesses. Stat. 7 & 8 Wm. III. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To accuse; to charge with a crime or a dishonorable act. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To affect or infect, as with physical or mental disease or with moral contagion; to taint or corrupt. [ 1913 Webster ]

My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To stain; to obscure; to sully; to disgrace; to cloud with infamy. [ 1913 Webster ]

For so exceeding shone his glistring ray,
That Ph&unr_;bus' golden face it did attaint. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lest she with blame her honor should attaint. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Attainted; corrupted. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. attainte. See Attaint, v. ] 1. A touch or hit. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Far.) A blow or wound on the leg of a horse, made by overreaching. White. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) A writ which lies after judgment, to inquire whether a jury has given a false verdict in any court of record; also, the convicting of the jury so tried. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A stain or taint; disgrace. See Taint. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An infecting influence. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainder; attainture; conviction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attainder; disgrace. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Attle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OF. atamer, from Latin. See Attaminate. ] 1. To pierce; to attack. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To broach; to begin. [ 1913 Webster ]

And right anon his tale he hath attamed. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. attaminare; ad + root of tangere. See Contaminate. ] To corrupt; to defile; to contaminate. [ Obs. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Per. 'atar perfume, essence, Ar. 'itr, fr. 'atara to smell sweet. Cf. Otto. ] A fragrant essential oil; esp., a volatile and highly fragrant essential oil obtained from the petals of roses. [ Also written otto and ottar. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. a- + task. ] To take to task; to blame. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. a- + taste. ] To taste or cause to taste. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Prob. through Pg. for Canarese bhatta rice in the husk. ] Extra pay; esp. an extra allowance to an English officer serving in India. Whitworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Hind. ba&tsdot_;&tsdot_;a. ] Rate of exchange; also, the discount on uncurrent coins. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Batful. ] Capable of cultivation; fertile; productive; fattening. [ Obs. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. bataillant, p. pr. See Battle, v. i. ] [ Obs. ] Prepared for battle; combatant; warlike. Spenser. -- n. A combatant. Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. bataillos, fr. bataille. See Battle, n. ] Arrayed for battle; fit or eager for battle; warlike. [ Obs. ] “In battailous aspect.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. battalia battle, a body of troops. See Battle, n. ] 1. Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops (brigades, regiments, battalions, etc.), or of a naval force, for action. [ 1913 Webster ]

A drawing up the armies in battalia. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An army in battle array; also, the main battalia or body. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia. ] 1. A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. [ archaic ] “The whole battalion views.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self-supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To form into battalions. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A tall erect rush or flag (Typha latifolia) growing widely in fresh and salt marshes, with long, flat, sword-shaped leaves, having clusters of small brown flowers in a dense cylindrical spike at the top of the stem; -- called also bulrush and reed mace. The leaves are frequently used for seating chairs, making mats, etc. See Catkin. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

☞ The lesser cat-tail is Typha angustifolia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. hardy breed of cattle resulting from crossing domestic cattle with the American buffalo; it yields leaner beef than conventional breeds; it is called also beefalo.
Syn. -- beefalo. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the loose back flap of a coat that hangs below the waist. [ WordNet 1.5 ]