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touch

Pronunciation: /tʌtʃ/

Translate touch | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of touch

verb

[with object]
  • 1come into or be in contact with:he leaned back so that only two legs of his chair touched the floor
  • bring one’s hand or another part of one’s body into contact with:he touched a strand of her hair Andrew touched him on the shoulder
  • come or bring into mutual contact: [no object]:for a moment their fingers touched [with object]:we touched wheels and nearly came off the road
  • [with object and adverbial of direction] strike (a ball) lightly in a specified direction:he touched back a cross-field ball
  • Geometry be tangent to (a curve or surface) at a certain point.
  • 2handle in order to interfere with, alter, or otherwise affect:I didn’t play her records or touch any of her stuff
  • cause harm to (someone):I’ve got friends who’ll pull strings—nobody will dare touch me
  • [usually with negative] consume or use (food, drink, money, etc.):the pint by his right hand was hardly touched in three years I haven’t touched a cent of the money
  • 3affect or concern:a tenth of state companies have been touched by privatization
  • [with negative] have any dealings with:he was good only for the jobs that nobody else would touch
  • (of a quality or expression) be or become visible or apparent in:the voice was touched by hysteria a wry smile touched his lips
  • 4produce feelings of affection, gratitude, or sympathy in:she was touched by her friend’s loyalty
  • 5 informal reach (a specified level or amount):sales touched twenty grand last year
  • [usually with negative] be comparable to in quality or excellence:there’s no one who can touch him at lightweight judo
  • 6 (touch someone for) informal ask someone for (money or some other commodity) as a loan or gift:he touched me for his fare
  • 7 (touch something in) chiefly Art lightly mark in features or other details with a brush or pencil.

noun

  • 1an act of touching someone or something:her touch on his shoulder was hesitant [mass noun]:expressions of love through words and touch [in singular]:manipulate images on the screen at the touch of a key
  • [mass noun] the faculty of perception through physical contact, especially with the fingers:reading by touch
  • [mass noun] a musician’s manner of playing keys or strings.
  • [mass noun] the manner in which a musical instrument’s keys or strings respond to being played:Viennese instruments with their too delicate touch
  • a light stroke with a pen, pencil, etc..
  • 2a small amount; a trace:add a touch of vinegar he retired to bed with a touch of flu
  • a small distinctive detail or feature:the film’s most inventive touch
  • 3 [in singular] a distinctive manner or method of dealing with something:later he showed a surer political touch
  • an ability to deal with something successfully:getting caught looks so incompetent, as though we’re losing our touch
  • 4 [in singular] Rugby & Soccer the area beyond the sidelines, out of play:his clearance went directly into touch figurativethe idea was kicked firmly into touch by the authorities
  • 5 [in singular] informal, dated an act of asking for and getting a loan or gift from someone:I only tolerated him because he was good for a touch now and then
  • 6 Bell-ringing a series of changes shorter than a peal.
  • 7 [in singular] archaic a thing that tests the worth or character of something:you must put your fate to the touch

Phrases

a touch

to a slight degree; a little:the water was a touch chilly for us

in touch

  • 1in or into communication:ask someone to put you in touch with other carers I’m not much of a one for keeping in touch
  • 2possessing up-to-date knowledge:we need to keep in touch with the latest developments
  • having an intuitive awareness:you need to be in touch with your feelings

lose touch

  • 1cease to be in communication:I lost touch with him when he joined the Air Force
  • 2cease to be aware or informed:we cannot lose touch with political reality

out of touch

lacking up-to-date knowledge or information:he seems out of touch with recent economic thinking
lacking in awareness or sympathy:we have been betrayed by a government out of touch with our values

to the touch

when touched:the ankle was swollen and painful to the touch

touch base (with)

see base1.

touch bottom

reach the ground below a stretch of water with one’s feet or a pole.
be at the lowest or worst point:the housing market has touched bottom

touch a chord

see chord2.

touch of nature

a display of human feeling with which others sympathize (based on a misinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida iii iii. 169).

touch of the sun

a slight attack of sunstroke: they both had a touch of the sun

touch wood

see wood.

would not touch something with a bargepole

see bargepole.

Phrasal Verbs

touch at

(of a ship) call briefly at (a port): before returning to Denmark, he touched at Sandwich

touch down

  • 1 Rugby touch the ground with the ball behind the opponents' goal line, scoring a try.
  • American Football score six points by being in possession of the ball behind the opponents' goal line.
  • 2(of an aircraft or spacecraft) land: his plane touched down at Nice airport

touch something off

  • 1cause something to ignite or explode by touching it with a lighted match.
  • cause something to happen suddenly:there was concern that the move could touch off a trade war
  • 2(of a racehorse) defeat another horse in a race by a short margin:Royal Ballerina was touched off by Intrepidity in the English Oaks

touch on (or upon)

  • 1deal briefly with (a subject) in written or spoken discussion:he touches upon several themes from the last chapter
  • 2come near to being:a self-confident manner touching on the arrogant

touch someone up

British informal caress someone without their consent, for one’s own sexual pleasure: he was sacked after one of his pupils accused him of touching her up

touch something up

make small improvements to something:these paints are handy for touching up small areas on walls or ceilings

Derivatives

touchable

adjective

Origin:

Middle English: the verb from Old French tochier, probably from a Romance word of imitative origin; the noun originally from Old French touche, later (in certain senses) directly from the verb

touch in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of touch in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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