attaches

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of attach.

   The clip attaches the cable neatly to the desk edge.

   A small magnet attaches the note to the refrigerator door.

   Note

   The -s form that goes with he, she, it or a singular noun. It is spelled -es because attach ends in -ch. It carries every use of the verb: a clip attaches a cable, a label attaches easily, blame attaches to someone, and in legal writing a right attaches when it comes into operation. The same letters also spell the unaccented plural of attaché, and only context tells them apart.

2. 2
   noun

   Alternative form of attachés.

   Two cultural attaches arranged the exchange program between the cities.

   The ambassador relied on her trade attaches to negotiate the deal.

   Note

   This spelling drops the acute accent from the plural of a borrowed French word. The meaning does not change: cultural attaches and trade attaches are the same people as cultural and trade attachés. Keeping the accent avoids a real ambiguity, because without it the noun looks exactly like the present-tense verb, and a sentence such as "the embassy attaches" can stumble before the reader sorts it out.

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