# touch

Pronunciation: US say "TUCH" /tʌt͡ʃ/; UK

## Verb

1. To put a hand, finger, other body part, or something held into contact with someone or something, often briefly; also used without an object.
   - Simple: To put your hand, finger, or something you are holding against someone or something.
   - _Don't touch the stove; it's still hot from cooking dinner._
   - _Visitors may touch the exhibits in this section of the gallery._
4. To stir tender or sometimes painful feelings in someone.
   - Simple: To make someone feel strong emotions, often gentle or sad ones.
   - _Her speech touched the entire audience._
   - _Small acts of quiet kindness touch us more than grand gestures._
7. 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.
   - Simple: Of things: to come so close that they meet or rest against something or each other.
   - _The branch touched the window every time the wind picked up._
   - _Park carefully so your bumper doesn't touch the car in front._
8. To concern or have a bearing on a matter.
   - Simple: To be about or have something to do with a subject.
   - _These regulations touch every business in the country._
   - _The judge's ruling does not touch the question of liability._
10. To mention or discuss a subject briefly in speech or writing, used with on or upon.
   - Simple: To talk or write about a subject for a short time, without many details.
   - _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._
11. To interfere with, harm, or lay hands on someone or something.
   - Simple: To bother or harm someone or something by making contact.
   - _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._
12. To touch someone's body, or one's own, in an intimate or sexual way.
   - Simple: To touch someone's body, or your own, in a private or sexual way.
   - _No one should touch another person without their consent._
   - _Parents should teach children that no one may touch their private parts._
15. To begin to eat, drink, or make use of something.
   - Simple: To start to eat, drink, or use something.
   - _The children wouldn't touch their vegetables._
   - _He hasn't touched his savings in years._
16. To have a physical effect on something, of a kind made clear by the context.
   - Simple: To change or affect something physically, in a way that is clear from the situation.
   - _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._
17. To reach a particular amount, level, or value, often only briefly before falling back.
   - Simple: To reach a certain amount or level, often for only a short time.
   - _Profits touched a record high before falling back at year's end._
   - _In a heatwave, the thermometer can touch forty degrees by midday._
18. To equal or come close to in excellence or quality.
   - Simple: To be as good as someone or something else.
   - _For sheer spectacle, few films touch the original._
   - _When it comes to pizza, no place in town can touch this one._
23. To disturb someone's mental functions so they become somewhat insane, typically expressed as being 'touched in the head.'
   - Simple: To affect someone's mind so they behave in a slightly strange or crazy way.
   - _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._
24. To approach someone, typically a friend, and get money out of them, most often as a loan. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To get money from a friend by asking to borrow it.
   - _Whenever he was short, he would touch an old college friend for a loan._
   - _Every holiday, my uncle touched my dad for fifty bucks._
25. To have sexual intercourse with someone; used as a euphemism.
   - Simple: A polite or indirect way of saying to have sex with someone.
   - _She swore to her husband that no other man would ever touch her._
   - _She insisted that he had not touched her that night._
26. To give something a particular quality, as if by a light application of it.
   - Simple: To give something a small amount of a quality or feeling.
   - _Morning light touched the hills with gold._
   - _Grief can touch even the happiest memories with a quiet ache._

## Noun

2. An act of making contact, especially with the hand or finger.
   - Simple: The act of putting your hand or finger on something.
   - _A light touch on his shoulder made him turn around._
   - _The healer's touch was said to ease pain instantly._
3. A state of close communication or mutual understanding between people.
   - Simple: A close connection where people stay in contact and understand each other.
   - _The two cousins remained in touch despite living continents apart._
   - _After he retired, he gradually fell out of touch with former colleagues._
5. A detail or feature that gives something a distinctive character or style.
   - Simple: A small detail that gives something its own special style.
   - _The chef's signature touch is a sprinkle of smoked salt._
   - _Exposed brick walls give the cafe a rustic touch._
6. A small amount or slight degree of something.
   - Simple: A very small amount of something.
   - _The sauce needs just a touch more pepper._
   - _His reply carried a touch of irony._
9. The bodily sense through which contact, pressure, and texture are perceived by the skin.
   - Simple: The sense that lets you feel things through your skin.
   - _Blindfolded, she identified each object by touch alone._
   - _The sense of touch warns us of pain and danger._
13. A special skill or knack for doing something well.
   - Simple: A natural skill 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._
19. The area of a sports ground on or beyond the touchlines, outside the field of play.
   - Simple: In some sports, the area just outside the side lines of the field.
   - _The winger was bundled into touch just short of the line._
   - _Kicking for touch let the team relieve the pressure on their defense._
20. The particular style or technique with which a person plays a musical instrument.
   - Simple: The personal way someone 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._
21. A single stroke made on a drawing or painting with a brush, pen, or pencil.
   - Simple: A single mark or stroke made on a drawing or painting.
   - _A few light touches gave the watercolor its sense of depth._
   - _He fixed the painting with a single touch of white near the eyes._
22. A children's chasing game in which one player pursues and tags the others.
   - Simple: A chasing game where one child catches the others by tagging them.
   - _After lunch the whole class ran outside for a game of touch._
   - _When we played touch as kids, nobody could ever catch her._
14. A version of rugby league played without tackling, also known as touch football. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: A kind of rugby game in which players are not allowed to tackle each other.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (noun) An occasion on which someone asks for money, borrows something, or steals something.
- (verb) To mark a file or document as having been modified, updating its recorded timestamp.
- (noun) In Australian rules football, a kick or handball with which a player disposes of the ball during play.
- (verb) Of a ship or the people aboard it, to call briefly at a port or other place on the way.
- (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.
- (verb) To take hold or have an effect, as a tool that bites into something or a remark that leaves an impression.
- (verb) To set a sail so near the wind's direction that its windward edge begins to flutter.
- (verb) Of a sail, to flutter along its windward edge because the ship is pointed too near the wind.
- (verb) To sail a ship as close into the wind as it can manage.
- (verb) To harm or spoil something a little, as frost does to plants.
- (verb) To approve a bill on the Crown's behalf by tapping it with the royal scepter.
- (verb) To test the quality of something, as gold is tested by rubbing it on a touchstone.
- (verb) To draw or finish a picture with small strokes, or to add a little detail using a brush or pencil.
- (verb) To infect someone or something, or to have a slight effect on them.
- (verb) To play a musical instrument by striking, plucking, or otherwise handling it.
- (verb) To play a tune or piece of music.
- (verb) To stir someone to act, or to drive them on with force.
- (noun) The way an instrument responds to the fingers, especially how much its keys resist pressure.
- (noun) The power to stir someone's feelings, or an act that does so.
- (noun) A feeling or emotion.
- (noun) A remark's bearing on a particular person, or the way it applies to them personally.
- (noun) A short piece of writing on a subject.
- (noun) A touchstone, or the kind of dark stone that touchstones are made from.
- (noun) A test against a decisive standard, or the proven quality something shows when tested.
- (noun) In shipbuilding, the widest point of a tapered hull plank, or the corner formed where the timbers of the stern meet the counter.
- (noun) A bell-ringing performance of fewer than 5,040 changes, the number of different orders in which seven bells can sound.
- (noun) How far someone is involved or affected, or how much is spent on something.
- (noun) Animal fat of the kind used to make candles and soap.
- (noun) A person's current level of performance, especially in sport.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/touch (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).