detail

Universal Words noun, verb noun facts / information 1 [C] a small individual fact or item; a less important fact or item: an expedition planned down to the last detail * He stood still, absorbing every detail of the street. * Tell me the main points now; leave the details till later. 2 [U] the small facts or features of sth, when you consider them all together: This issue will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. * The research has been carried out with scrupulous attention to detail. * The sketch was from memory but he had an eye for detail (= noticed and remembered small details). * The fine detail of the plan has yet to be worked out. 3 (details) [pl.] information about sth: Please supply the following details: name, age and sex. * Further details and booking forms are available on request. * They didn't give any details about the game. * 'We had a terrible time-' 'Oh, spare me the details (= don't tell me any more).' small parts 4 [C,U] a small part of a picture or painting; the smaller or less important parts of a picture, pattern, etc. when you consider them all together: This is a detail from the 1844 Turner painting. * a huge picture with a lot of detail in it soldiers 5 [C] a group of soldiers given special duties IDIOMS go into detail(s) to explain sth fully: I can't go into details now; it would take too long. verb give facts / information 1 [VN] to give a list of facts or all the available information about sth: The brochure details all the hotels in the area and their facilities. order soldier 2 [oftenpassive] to give an official order to sb, especially a soldier, to do a particular task: [VNtoinf] Several of the men were detailed to form a search party. [also VN] clean car 3 [VN] (AmE) to clean a car extremely thoroughly: He got work for a while detailing cars.