touch

TUCH/tʌt͡ʃ/

Verbtouches, touching, touched

Noun pluraltouches

55 meanings of touch

Practice

1
contact (hand)verbtransitive
To put a hand, finger, other body part, or something held into contact with someone or something, often briefly; also used without an object.
Don't touch the stove; it's still hot from cooking dinner.
Visitors may touch the exhibits in this section of the gallery.
UsageTouch is the contact; feel is what you sense: touch the fabric to feel how soft it is.
Similarhandle, feel, finger
2
gentle contactnouncountable or uncountable
An act of making contact, especially with the hand or finger.
A light touch on his shoulder made him turn around.
The healer's touch was said to ease pain instantly.
UsageOften a touch on the shoulder or arm. Set phrase: at the touch of a button.
Similarcontact
3
keeping in contactnoununcountable
A state of close communication or mutual understanding between people.
The two cousins remained in touch despite living continents apart.
After he retired, he gradually fell out of touch with former colleagues.
UsageUsed in set phrases with no article: keep in touch, get in touch with, lose touch with, out of touch.
Similarcontact, connection
4
move emotionallyverbtransitive
To stir tender or sometimes painful feelings in someone.
Her speech touched the entire audience.
Small acts of quiet kindness touch us more than grand gestures.
UsageOften passive: I was touched by her kindness. Do not confuse it with touched in the head, meaning crazy.
Similarmove, affect, stir
Note
Shakespeare's Othello uses the active verb for wounded feeling, 'if it touch not you, it comes near nobody,' so the emotion need not be tender.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The quotation occurs in Shakespeare's Othello, spoken by Iago to Othello in Act IV, scene i, about Desdemona's supposed infidelity; the context supports painful feeling. shakespeare.mit.edu
5
signature detailnouncountable or uncountable
A detail or feature that gives something a distinctive character or style.
The chef's signature touch is a sprinkle of smoked salt.
Exposed brick walls give the cafe a rustic touch.
UsageCommon phrases: a nice touch, a personal touch, put the finishing touches on something.
Similarfeature, characteristic, trait, quality, attribute
6
a dashnouncountable or uncountable
A small amount or slight degree of something.
The sauce needs just a touch more pepper.
His reply carried a touch of irony.
UsageTakes of or a comparative: a touch of irony, a touch more pepper, just a touch.
Similarbit, dash, hint, dab, drop
Note
Shakespeare's Richard III has 'a touch of your condition,' and the plural appears in an 1886 account of a quail's touches of white above the eye.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Shakespeare's Richard III contains 'a touch of your condition,' spoken by King Richard III to the Duchess of York in Act IV, scene iv. shakespeare.mit.edu
The account containing the quail example was published in 1886. biodiversitylibrary.org
The account uses the plural 'touches' for white markings above the bird's eye. en.wiktionary.org
7
be in contactverbtransitive
Of things, to be or come into physical contact with something or with each other, often without intent; to meet at an edge or point.
The branch touched the window every time the wind picked up.
Park carefully so your bumper doesn't touch the car in front.
Similarbrush, graze, contact, meet
8
concernverbtransitive
To concern or have a bearing on a matter.
These regulations touch every business in the country.
The judge's ruling does not touch the question of liability.
Similaraffect, concern, involve, address, regard
Note
An old sense that once hardened into a preposition. Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 has 'as touchinge these men,' meaning 'concerning these men.' As a verb it pairs naturally with closely and with abstract objects. Saki writes of 'something which touched them closely,' and in the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1898) the stories 'did not seem to me to touch life.'
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
The concerning sense developed a prepositional form, touching. en.wiktionary.org
Tyndale's complete New Testament was first printed in 1526. tyndale.org
Tyndale's 1526 New Testament contains the quoted wording, meaning concerning these men. en.wiktionary.org
Saki wrote the quoted phrase; it occurs in the narration of The Penance. gutenberg.org
The Celebrity was written by the American novelist Winston Churchill. gutenberg.org
The first edition is dated 1898, despite its publication in 1897. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted wording occurs in The Celebrity, in its first-person narration. gutenberg.org
9
sense of feelingnouncountable or uncountable
The bodily sense through which contact, pressure, and texture are perceived by the skin.
Blindfolded, she identified each object by touch alone.
The sense of touch warns us of pain and danger.
UsageCommon phrases: the sense of touch, by touch, soft to the touch.
Similartactility
10
mention brieflyverbintransitive
To mention or discuss a subject briefly in speech or writing, used with on or upon.
We have already touched upon the budget, so let me turn to staffing.
The report doesn't touch on the safety concerns that residents raised last year.
UsageTouch on suggests a brief mention; for a full discussion, deal with or cover is clearer.
Similarrefer
Note
The brevity in this use is borrowed from the hand: to touch on or upon a subject is to make contact with it without taking hold. In Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), the doctor says "since we have touched upon this business" while hoping never to return to it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, first published in 1886. commons.wikimedia.org
Dr Jekyll says the quoted words and expresses hope that this will be their last discussion of the business. gutenberg.org
11
lay hands onverbtransitive
To interfere with, harm, or lay hands on someone or something.
The bully knew better than to touch her while her older brothers were around.
The burglars ransacked the office but never touched the cash drawer.
UsageCommon in threats and denials: don't you touch her, never touched the money.
Similardisturb, handle, harm
Note
Menace is the natural register here. The verb turns up in threats, as in If you touch her…, and in promises of restraint, where plain contact stands for harm. The King James Bible of 1611 already uses it this way: 'as we have not touched thee.' The understatement is the point, because saying touch rather than hurt makes the warning sound absolute.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
The King James Bible contains the quoted expression in the sense of harming someone, in Genesis 26:29. en.wikisource.org
12
caress sexuallyverbtransitive
To touch someone's body, or one's own, in an intimate or sexual way.
No one should touch another person without their consent.
Parents should teach children that no one may touch their private parts.
UsageOften with inappropriately: touched her inappropriately.
Similarfondle, caress
13
skillnouncountable or uncountable
A special skill or knack for doing something well.
The veteran negotiator never lost her touch for closing deals.
Baking good bread takes a certain touch that comes only with practice.
UsageUsually with a possessive: lose your touch, find your touch, her scoring touch.
Similarskill, knack, ability, talent, aptitude
14
no-tackle rugbynounAustraliacountable or uncountable
A version of rugby league played without tackling, also known as touch football.
Plenty of league players keep fit over the off-season by playing touch on weeknights.
The council has booked the oval for a twilight touch competition every Wednesday.
UsageLike other game names, it takes no article: play touch.
Note
Mainly in Australia, the word is the ordinary name of the sport, clipped from touch football. The game is a variant of rugby league, so it is unrelated to the Australian rules player's touches, though playing touch can also mean the children's chasing game, and context decides.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
'Touch' is a shortened name for touch football. islhd.health.nsw.gov.au
The sport derives from rugby league and replaces tackling with touching. ausport.gov.au

Less common meanings

15
consumeverbtransitive
To begin to eat, drink, or make use of something.
The children wouldn't touch their vegetables.
He hasn't touched his savings in years.
UsageMostly in negatives: didn't touch her lunch, hasn't touched his savings.
Similarconsume, partake
Note
To say someone has not touched their lunch means the food sits uneaten, and the remark is usually a worried one. Georgette Heyer's The Unknown Ajax (1959) uses it of a pickled crab left on the plate. The same pattern carries over to money, since savings one has not touched remain whole.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Georgette Heyer wrote The Unknown Ajax. en.wikipedia.org
The Unknown Ajax was first published in 1959. static.fnac-static.com
The novel uses 'touched' of pickled crab that was left uneaten. en.wiktionary.org
16
damageverbtransitive
To have a physical effect on something, of a kind made clear by the context.
Floodwater ruined the basement, but it did not touch the rooms upstairs.
The fire barely touched the upper floors before crews brought it under control.
Similaraffect, damage, reach
17
peak atverbtransitive
To reach a particular amount, level, or value, often only briefly before falling back.
Profits touched a record high before falling back at year's end.
In a heatwave, the thermometer can touch forty degrees by midday.
Similarnear
Note
The verb suggests reaching a mark rather than settling there. Richard Williams, reporting on the 2012 Tour de France, uses it for the steepest stretch of a climb. Unlike the 'rival' meaning, it measures quantity, not excellence.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Richard Williams used touch of a climb's steep gradient while reporting on the 2012 Tour de France. theguardian.com
18
be as goodverbtransitive
To equal or come close to in excellence or quality.
For sheer spectacle, few films touch the original.
When it comes to pizza, no place in town can touch this one.
UsageMostly negative: nothing can touch it, no one to touch her. In positive sentences, match or rival sounds more natural.
Similarmatch, equal, rival, parallel
Note
Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) uses it of a woman's beauty, and Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1934) uses it of a great tragic actress. In both, it crowns someone as unrivaled.
19
out of playnouncountable or uncountable
The area of a sports ground on or beyond the touchlines, outside the field of play.
The winger was bundled into touch just short of the line.
Kicking for touch let the team relieve the pressure on their defense.
UsageNo article: the ball goes into touch; teams kick for touch. The line itself is the touchline.
20
playing stylenouncountable or uncountable
The particular style or technique with which a person plays a musical instrument.
The pianist's delicate touch brought out every quiet note.
Years of practice gave her a confident touch on the keyboard.
UsageUsually with an adjective that judges it: a light touch, a delicate touch.
Similartechnique, style, feel
Note
Pianists use the word most, because touch is what passes from finger to key. The instrument has a touch as well, the way its keys respond to the fingers, and the two meanings meet whenever a player says a piano suits their touch.
21
brush strokenouncountable or uncountable
A single stroke made on a drawing or painting with a brush, pen, or pencil.
A few light touches gave the watercolor its sense of depth.
He fixed the painting with a single touch of white near the eyes.
Similarstroke, dab, dash, flick
Note
Painter's vocabulary: each touch is one small application of pencil or brush. The verb is used the same way for adding small strokes to a picture. The usual verb is give, and John Dryden's The Art of Painting (1695) advises: 'Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.'
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Dryden's English version of The Art of Painting was first published in 1695. gutenberg.org
The work and quoted English wording are attributable to Dryden as translator of du Fresnoy. gutenberg.org
The quoted advice occurs in the work; it is an excerpt from a longer sentence. gutenberg.org
22
chasing gamenouncountable or uncountable
A children's chasing game in which one player pursues and tags the others.
After lunch the whole class ran outside for a game of touch.
When we played touch as kids, nobody could ever catch her.
UsageAlso called tag. Like other game names, it takes no article: play touch.
Similartag, chase, catch, tig
23
affect the mindverbtransitive
To disturb someone's mental functions so they become somewhat insane, typically expressed as being 'touched in the head.'
The villagers whispered that grief had left her touched in the head.
Some of the neighbors thought he was a bit touched in the head.
UsageUsually passive after be: a bit touched or touched in the head. It is an unkind thing to say.
Similarmadden, craze, derange
24
get money fromverbslangtransitive
To approach someone, typically a friend, and get money out of them, most often as a loan.
Whenever he was short, he would touch an old college friend for a loan.
Every holiday, my uncle touched my dad for fifty bucks.
UsagePut the person after touch and introduce the amount with for: She touched him for twenty pounds.
Similartap, hit
25
have sexverbtransitive
To have sexual intercourse with someone; used as a euphemism.
She swore to her husband that no other man would ever touch her.
She insisted that he had not touched her that night.
Note
Indirection does the work here. The plainest verb of contact stands in for intercourse, and only context decides that it means this. It lives in questions, denials and accusations, as in Did you touch her?, where a speaker wants the meaning without saying the word. Because it shades into intimate contact, read the surrounding sentence before taking it in this strongest sense.
26
add a hint ofverbtransitive
To give something a particular quality, as if by a light application of it.
Morning light touched the hills with gold.
Grief can touch even the happiest memories with a quiet ache.
UsageTouch something with a quality, often passive: touched with gold, touched with sadness.
Similartinge, tint, color
Note
The image is a light brush that leaves color behind, so the quality is present without overwhelming. Vicki Gabriner, writing in Gay Community News in 1988, describes a theme that 'touched the show with additional solemnity.'
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Vicki Gabriner wrote in Gay Community News in 1988 that a theme 'touched the show with additional solemnity.' Wiktionary identifies the article as 'Dancing for the Living and the Dead', dated April 9, 1988, page 6. en.wiktionary.org
27
nounslang
An occasion on which someone asks for money, borrows something, or steals something.
But towards evening I got a touch at a cove's suck, and eased him of twenty-two quids and a lil, which I took in the usual manner, when he was entering the inn door.
1821, David Haggart, Life of David Haggart
28
verb
To mark a file or document as having been modified, updating its recorded timestamp.
29
noun
In Australian rules football, a kick or handball with which a player disposes of the ball during play.
30
verb
Of a ship or the people aboard it, to call briefly at a port or other place on the way.
31
verb
To lay a hand on a person with scrofula in a ceremony meant to cure it, once performed by the monarchs of England and France.
But in fact the English kings of the seventeenth century usually began to touch form the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic
32
verbobsolete
To take hold or have an effect, as a tool that bites into something or a remark that leaves an impression.
Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon gold, that will not touch upon silver.
1627, Francis [Bacon], Sylua Syluarum
33
verb
To set a sail so near the wind's direction that its windward edge begins to flutter.
34
verb
Of a sail, to flutter along its windward edge because the ship is pointed too near the wind.
35
verb
To sail a ship as close into the wind as it can manage.
36
verbdated
To harm or spoil something a little, as frost does to plants.
37
verbdialectalScottish
To approve a bill on the Crown's behalf by tapping it with the royal scepter.
38
verb
To test the quality of something, as gold is tested by rubbing it on a touchstone.
39
verb
To draw or finish a picture with small strokes, or to add a little detail using a brush or pencil.
40
verbobsolete
To infect someone or something, or to have a slight effect on them.
Hee was touched with great Remorse
1622, Francis, Lord Verulam
41
verb
To play a musical instrument by striking, plucking, or otherwise handling it.
42
verb
To play a tune or piece of music.
43
verb
To stir someone to act, or to drive them on with force.
44
noun
The way an instrument responds to the fingers, especially how much its keys resist pressure.
45
nounobsolete
The power to stir someone's feelings, or an act that does so.
Not alone / The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, / Do strongly speak to us.
c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”
46
nounobsolete
A feeling or emotion.
a true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy
1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
47
nounobsolete
A remark's bearing on a particular person, or the way it applies to them personally.
Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Discourse”
48
nounobsolete
A short piece of writing on a subject.
Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.
1713, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction, Jonathan Swift
49
nounobsolete
A touchstone, or the kind of dark stone that touchstones are made from.
Now do I play the touch.
c. 1593, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third:”
50
nounobsolete
A test against a decisive standard, or the proven quality something shows when tested.
friends of noble touch
c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”
51
noun
In shipbuilding, the widest point of a tapered hull plank, or the corner formed where the timbers of the stern meet the counter.
52
noun
A bell-ringing performance of fewer than 5,040 changes, the number of different orders in which seven bells can sound.
53
nounslang
How far someone is involved or affected, or how much is spent on something.
54
noundatedUK
Animal fat of the kind used to make candles and soap.
55
noun
A person's current level of performance, especially in sport.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of touch apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

English took this word from Middle English touchen, from Old French tochier ("to touch"), which came from Vulgar Latin *tuccō ("to knock, strike, offend"). That in turn came from Frankish and Proto-Germanic roots meaning "to tug, grab, grasp," and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *dewk- ("to draw, pull, lead"). It is a doublet of tuck and largely replaced the native word rine.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Touch derives from Middle English touchen, borrowed from Old French tochier, meaning “to touch.” en.wiktionary.org
Old French tochier derives from reconstructed Vulgar Latin *tuccō, glossed “to knock, strike, offend.” en.wiktionary.org
Touch is a doublet of tuck. en.wiktionary.org
Touch largely displaced the native word represented by modern English rine. en.wiktionary.org