OZDIC

detail

UK /ˈdiː.teɪl/ US /ˈdi.teɪl/
noun 5verb 3

Definitions

noun

1

A part small enough to escape casual notice.

Note this fine detail in the lower left corner.

We missed several important details in the contract.

2

A profusion of details.

This etching is full of fine detail.

Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.

3

The small parts that can escape casual notice.

Attention to detail was said to be one of the secrets of Gerrard's success as a player.

4

A part considered trivial enough to ignore.

I don't concern myself with the details of accounting.

Safety at work is not a mere detail.

5

A person's name, address and other personal information.

The arresting officer asked the suspect for his details.

verb

1

To explain in detail.

I'll detail the exact procedure to you later.

It is a sunny morning in Amman and the three uniformed judges in Jordan’s state security court are briskly working their way through a pile of slim grey folders on the bench before them. Each details the charges against 25 or so defendants accused of supporting the fighters of the Islamic State (Isis), now rampaging across Syria and Iraq under their sinister black banners and sending nervous jitters across the Arab world.

2

To clean carefully (particularly of road vehicles, always pronounced. /ˈdiːteɪl/)

We need to have the minivan detailed.

3

To assign to a particular task.

Two years after England’s World Cup victory, Stiles was at Wembley again to help Manchester United become the first English team to win the European Cup final. Again Eusébio was one of his opponents, playing for Benfica, and again Stiles was detailed to keep him quiet. […]

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