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Attach vs Fix - What's the difference?

attach | fix |

In transitive terms the difference between attach and fix

is that attach is to fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively) while fix is to render (a photographic impression) permanent by treating with such applications as will make it insensitive to the action of light.

In intransitive terms the difference between attach and fix

is that attach is to adhere; to be attached while fix is to become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance.

As verbs the difference between attach and fix

is that attach is to arrest, seize while fix is to pierce; now generally replaced by transfix.

As a noun fix is

a repair or corrective action.

As an abbreviation FIX is

abbreviation of lang=en|factor IX clotting factor IX.

attach

English

Verb

  • (obsolete, legal) To arrest, seize.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , I.xii:
  • Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait, / Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait
  • * 1610 , , by (William Shakespeare), act 3 scene 2
  • Old lord, I cannot blame thee, / Who am myself attach'd with weariness / To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
  • * Miss Yonge
  • The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.
  • To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
  • An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
  • * Paley
  • The shoulder blade is attached only to the muscles.
  • * Macaulay
  • a huge stone to which the cable was attached
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
  • To adhere; to be attached.
  • * Brougham
  • The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.
  • To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
  • Dower will attach .
    (Cooley)
  • 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 .
  • attached''' to a friend; '''attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
  • * Jane Austen
  • incapable of attaching a sensible man
  • * Cowper
  • God by various ties attaches man to man.
  • To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to .
  • to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
  • * Bayard Taylor
  • To this treasure a curse is attached .
  • (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (to fasten, to join to ) connect, annex, affix, unite

    Antonyms

    * (to fasten, to join to ) detach, unfasten, disengage, separate

    Derived terms

    () * attachable * attachment * attacher * get attached

    fix

    English

    Alternative forms

    * fixe (archaic)

    Noun

    (es)
  • A repair or corrective action.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.}}
  • A difficult situation; a quandary or dilemma.
  • (informal) A single dose of an addictive drug administered to a drug user.
  • * (Alain Jourgensen)
  • "Just one fix !"
  • A prearrangement of the outcome of a supposedly competitive process, such as a sporting event, a game, an election, a trial, or a bid.
  • *
  • A determination of location.
  • (US) fettlings (mixture used to line a furnace)
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To pierce; now generally replaced by transfix.
  • # (by extension) (Of a piercing look) to direct at someone.
  • He fixed me with a sickly grin, and said, "I told you it wouldn't work!"
  • To attach; to affix; to hold in place.
  • A dab of chewing gum will fix your note to the bulletin board.
    A leech can fix itself to your skin without you feeling it.
  • # (transitive, figuratively, usually in the passive) To focus or determine (oneself, on a concept); to fixate.
  • She's fixed on the idea of becoming a doctor.
  • To mend, to repair.
  • That heater will start a fire if you don't fix it.
  • (informal) To prepare (food).
  • She fixed dinner for the kids.
  • To make (a contest, vote, or gamble) unfair; to privilege one contestant or a particular group of contestants, usually before the contest begins; to arrange immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortionSutherland, Edwin H. (ed) (1937): The Professional Thief: by a Professional Thief. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Reprinted by various publishers in subsequent decades.]
  • A majority of voters believed the election was fixed in favor of the incumbent.
  • (transitive, US, informal) To surgically render an animal, especially a pet, infertile.
  • Rover stopped digging under the fence after we had the vet fix him.
  • (transitive, mathematics, sematics) To map a (point or subset) to itself.
  • (informal) To take revenge on, to best; to serve justice on an assumed miscreant.
  • He got caught breaking into lockers, so a couple of guys fixed him after work.
  • To render (a photographic impression) permanent by treating with such applications as will make it insensitive to the action of light.
  • (transitive, chemistry, biology) To convert into a stable or available form.
  • Legumes are valued in crop rotation for their ability to fix nitrogen.
    (Abney)
  • To become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest.
  • * (rfdate) (Waller)
  • Your kindness banishes your fear, / Resolved to fix forever here.
  • To become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance.
  • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * (make a contest unfair) doctor, rig * (render infertile) neuter, spay, desex, castrate * See also

    Antonyms

    * (to hold in place) move, change

    Derived terms

    * affix, affixative, fixed * fixings, fixity, fixety * fix someone's wagon, fix someone up with