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touch

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touch

  • /tʌt͡ʃ/
  • /tɛt͡ʃ/ archaic, dialectal
  • /tɑt͡ʃ/ Appalachia, obsolete

Rhymes with -ʌtʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English touchen, tochen, from Old French tochier (“to touch”) (whence Modern French toucher; compare French doublet toquer (“to offend, bother, harass”)), from Vulgar Latin *tuccō (“to knock, strike, offend”), from Frankish *tukkōn (“to knock, strike, touch”), from Proto-Germanic *tukkōną (“to tug, grab, grasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull, lead”). Largely displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine). Doublet of tuck.

Cognates

Cognate with Old High German zochhōn, zuhhōn (“to grasp, take, seize, snatch”) (whence German zucken (“to jerk, flinch”)), German Low German tucken, tocken (“to fidget, twitch, pull up, entice, throb, knock, repeatedly tap”), Middle Dutch tocken, tucken (“to touch, entice”) (whence Dutch tokkelen (“to strum, pluck”)), Old English tucian, tūcian (“to disturb, mistreat”) (whence Modern English tuck). Compare also Old High German tokkōn, tockōn (“to abut, collide”). More at tuck.

Via Proto-Indo-European *dewk- cognate with English tie, tow, tug, team, Latin dūcō, dux.

verb touches · touching · touched · toucht

  1. transitive To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with. I touched his face softly.
  2. transitive To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect. Sitting on the bench, the hem of her skirt touched the ground.
  3. intransitive To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact. They stood next to each other, their shoulders touching.
  4. intransitive To make physical contact with a thing. Please can I have a look, if I promise not to touch?
  5. transitive To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact. If you touch her, I'll kill you.
  6. transitive To make intimate physical contact with a person. The man was arrested for touching a girl without her consent.
  7. intransitive, rare, reflexive, transitive To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate. Her parents had caught her touching herself when she was fifteen.
  8. To have sexual intercourse with Tell me the truth, did you touch her?
  9. transitive To cause to be briefly in physical contact with something. He quickly touched his knee to the worn marble.
  10. transitive To physically affect in specific ways implied by context. Frankly, this wood's so strong that sandpaper won't touch it.
  11. transitive To begin to consume, or otherwise use. Are you all right? You've hardly touched your lunch.
  12. intransitive Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at). Now a certain grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its commander — from all accounts, a very stately punctilious gentleman, at least for a sea captain — this commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a pretty young princess just turned of ten.
  13. historical, transitive To lay hands on (someone suffering from scrofula) as a form of cure, as formerly practised by English and French monarchs. But in fact the English kings of the seventeenth century usually began to touch from the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration.
  14. intransitive, obsolete To fasten; to take effect; to make impression. Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon gold, that will not touch upon silver.
  15. To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  16. intransitive To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  17. To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible. to touch the wind
  18. transitive To imbue or endow with a specific quality. My grandfather, as many people know, was touched with greatness.
  19. archaic, transitive To deal with in speech or writing; to mention briefly, to allude to. Next to sorrow still I may annex such accidents as procure fear; for besides those terrors which I have before touched, […] there is a superstitious fear […] which much trouble many of us.
  20. intransitive To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on or upon something). 'Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the last time I hope,' continued the doctor, 'there is one point I should like you to understand.[…]'
  21. transitive To concern, to have to do with. Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye entende to do as touchinge these men.
  22. transitive, usually, with negation To engage with, to be involved with. I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole.
  23. transitive To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in. If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend, for if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.
  24. dated, transitive To affect in a negative way, especially only slightly. He had been drinking over lunch, and was clearly touched.
  25. Scottish, transitive To give royal assent to by touching it with the sceptre. The bill was finally touched after many hours of deliberation.
  26. slang, transitive To obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend). I was running short, so I touched old Bertie for a fiver.
  27. transitive To disturb the mental functions of; to make somewhat insane; often followed with "in the head". You must be touched if you think I'm taking your advice.
  28. transitive To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality. There was his mistress, Maria Morano. I don't think I've ever seen anything to touch her, and when you work for the screen [as I do] you're apt to have a pretty exacting standard of female beauty.
  29. transitive To come close to; to approach. On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%.
  30. transitive To mark (a file or document) as having been modified.
  31. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone. I mean to touch your love indeed.
  32. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush. The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn right.
  33. obsolete To infect; to affect slightly. Hee was touched with great Remorse
  34. To strike; to manipulate; to play on. to touch an instrument of music
  35. To perform, as a tune; to play. A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet.
  36. To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly. No decree of mine,[…][to] touch with lightest moment of impulse his free will.

noun touches

  1. countable, uncountable An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger. Suddenly, in the crowd, I felt a touch at my shoulder.
  2. countable, uncountable The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact. With the lights out, she had to rely on touch to find her desk.
  3. countable, uncountable The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument. He performed one of Ravel's piano concertos with a wonderfully light and playful touch.
  4. countable, uncountable The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers. a heavy touch, or a light touch
  5. countable, uncountable A distinguishing feature or characteristic. Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.
  6. countable, uncountable A little bit; a small amount. Move it left just a touch and it will be perfect.
  7. countable, uncountable The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines. He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch.
  8. uncountable A relationship of close communication or understanding. He promised to keep in touch while he was away.
  9. countable, uncountable The ability to perform a task well; aptitude. I used to be a great chess player but I've lost my touch.
  10. countable, obsolete, uncountable Act or power of exciting emotion. Not alone / The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, / Do strongly speak to us.
  11. countable, obsolete, uncountable An emotion or affection. a true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy
  12. countable, obsolete, uncountable Personal reference or application. Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.
  13. countable, uncountable A single stroke on a drawing or a picture. Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.
  14. countable, obsolete, uncountable A brief essay. Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.
  15. countable, obsolete, uncountable A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone. Now do I play the touch.
  16. countable, obsolete, uncountable Examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality. equity, the true touch of all laws
  17. countable, uncountable The broadest part of a plank worked top and but, or of one worked anchor-stock fashion (that is, tapered from the middle to both ends); also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters. Set off the exact Length forward and aftward from the Observation of the rising of the Keel, by Shipwrights called the Touch, or Place where the Keel's upper Part ends to be streight.
  18. countable, uncountable The children's game of tag.
  19. countable, uncountable A set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, i.e. less than 5,040.
  20. countable, slang, uncountable An act of borrowing or stealing something; a request for money. 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.
  21. countable, slang, uncountable The extent to which a person is interested or affected; the amount of outlay on something. Such was Tim Whiffle on the Sunday, with the addition of a cane to indicate riding, it is true he had long had a penchant to a pair of spurs but did not as yet sport them, although a half crown touch at some livery stables was positively decided upon in his own mind, though hitherto the dread of a f
  22. UK, countable, dated, uncountable Tallow.
  23. countable, uncountable Form; standard of performance. 2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round seven? Australian Football League, 30 April 2019. Accessed 6 May 2019. Jackson Hately, Isaac Cumming and Nick Shipley have been in great touch in the NEAFL.
  24. countable, uncountable A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball. 2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round seven? Australian Football League, 30 April 2019. Accessed 6 May 2019. With just six touches, small forward Daniel Rioli was uncharacteristically quiet against Melbourne, although he did lay five tackles.
  25. Australia, countable, uncountable touch football (a variant of rugby league that does not involve tackling)

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