Detachment
[dɪ'tætʃm(ə)nt] or [dɪ'tætʃmənt]
Definition
(noun.) the act of releasing from an attachment or connection.
(noun.) a small unit of troops of special composition.
Editor: Olivia--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of detaching or separating, or the state of being detached.
(n.) That which is detached; especially, a body of troops or part of a fleet sent from the main body on special service.
(n.) Abstraction from worldly objects; renunciation.
Edited by Allison
Examples
- In a short time it was well fortified and a detachment was sent to occupy Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- At first Archer had fancied that this detachment was the disguise of an inward tremor; but her clear eyes revealed only the most tranquil unawareness. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- He was at Milford by the night of the 21St. Here he met a detachment of Pickett's division coming from Richmond to reinforce Lee. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- To beat such a detachment would be of immense value. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I remained at Burnsville with a detachment of about 900 men from Ord's command and communicated with my two wings by courier. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Mr. De Loche knew that the rebel General Jackson was in that neighborhood with a detachment of cavalry. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The garrison consisted of a regiment of colored troops, infantry, and a detachment of Tennessee cavalry. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Another detachment was dispatched to a point before the village gate, while he remained with the balance upon the south side of the clearing. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- He has been called by an able writer, the first of the moderns, and the phrase expresses aptly the unprejudiced detachment of his intellectual side. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- If this utter detachment from any love of money for its own sake has not already been illustrated in some of the incidents narrated, one or two stories are available to emphasize the point. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- There is a calm sense of detachment about this description that has been possessed by the narrator even in the most anxious moments of his career. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- There was a detachment of two or three companies going some twenty-five miles west to be stationed as a guard to the railroad. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- A detachment marched down to Philadelphia for the express purpose of murdering some friendly Indians, who had been removed to the city for safety. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- We try to believe that, however finite we may be, our intellect is something apart from the cycle of our life, capable by an Olympian detachment from human interests of a divine thoroughness. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- They were a machine-gun detachment going up toward the river. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- He also sent out detachments to destroy the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond, but no great success attended these latter efforts. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I hold Atlanta with the 20th corps, and have strong detachments along my line. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- There was also a cavalry corps under General Harney, composed of detachments of the 1st, 2d, and 3d dragoons. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
Inputed by Bruno