disengagement

plural disengagements

1. countableuncountableRelease or detachment from a physical situation or other involvement.

   moral disengagement

   1 more example

   “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, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 238–239

2. countableuncountableThe release or separation of a chemical.

   1 more example

   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 a state of ignition.

   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, →OCLC, page 254

3. countableuncountablegovernmentWithdrawal from combat, confrontation, or the assertion of influence.
4. countableuncountableTermination of an agreement to be married.
5. countableuncountablefencingA 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. countableuncountablemedicineThe emergence of the fetus from the birth canal.
7. countabledateduncountableLeisure; relief from responsibilities or onerous activities.