disengagement

Noun

disengagement (countable and uncountable, plural disengagements)

1. Release or detachment from a physical situation or other involvement.
   • moral disengagement
   • “Miss Vernon,” I said, “Mr Rashleigh, has recommended me to return my thanks to you for my speedy disengagement from the ridiculous accusation of Morris;[…]”1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter X, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees...
2. The release or separation of a chemical.
   • The Indians of the Orellanna, also, tell of horrible noises heard occasionally in the Paraguaxo, […] Others have endeavored to account for these discharges of "mountain artillery" on humbler principles; attributing them […] to the disengagement of hydrogen, produced by subterraneous beds of coal in...1836 October, Washington Irving, chapter XXVI, in Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard...
3. Withdrawal from combat, confrontation, or the assertion of influence.
4. Termination of an agreement to be married.
5. A circular movement of the blade that blocks an opponent's parry.
   • There was a quick flash, a disengagement, a feint, a lunge that was like a man's, and as her long left arm shot out like lightning, her foil bent nearly double.1895, Francis Marion Crawford, chapter 23, in Taquisara
6. The emergence of the fetus from the birth canal.
7. (dated) Leisure; relief from responsibilities or onerous activities.