/tʌt͡ʃ/, /tɛt͡ʃ/, /tɑt͡ʃ/
OriginFrom 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”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Albanian cek (“to touch”), Old Church Slavonic тъкнѫти (tŭknǫti). More at tuck, take.
- transitiveTo make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
“I touched his face softly.”
“While thus she spake, / She toucht his eye-lashes with libant lip / And breath'd ambrosial odours; […]”
- transitiveTo come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
“Sitting on the bench, the hem of her skirt touched the ground.”
- intransitiveTo come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
“They stood next to each other, their shoulders touching.”
- intransitiveTo make physical contact with a thing.
“Please can I have a look, if I promise not to touch?”
- transitiveTo physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
“If you touch her, I'll kill you.”
“Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee.”
- transitiveTo make intimate physical contact with a person.
“The man was arrested for touching a girl without her consent.”
- reflexive, transitiveTo sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate.
“Her parents had caught her touching herself when she was fifteen.”
- To have sexual intercourse with
“Tell me the truth, did you touch her?”
- transitiveTo cause to be briefly in physical contact with something.
“He quickly touched his knee to the worn marble.”
“The demonstrator nearly touched the rod on the ball.”
“She touched her lips to the glass.”
- transitiveTo physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
“Frankly, this wood's so strong that sandpaper won't touch it.”
- transitiveTo begin to consume, or otherwise use.
“Are you all right? You've hardly touched your lunch.”
“But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a s”
- intransitiveOf 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 ”
- historical, transitiveTo 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 form the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration.”
- intransitive, obsoleteTo fasten; to take effect; to make impression.
“Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon gold, that will not touch upon silver.”
- To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
- intransitiveTo be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
- To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible.
- transitiveTo imbue or endow with a specific quality.
“My grandfather, as many people know, was touched with greatness.”
“This year, J. Allen Collier, the artistic director and producer, invited choreographers to create dance pieces exploring the multi-faceted responses to the AIDS crisis. This thematic unity touched the”
- archaic, transitiveTo 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.”
- intransitiveTo 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.[…]'”
- transitiveTo concern, to have to do with.
“Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye entende to do as touchinge these men.”
“The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impre”
“And now it seemed he was engaged in something which touched them closely, but must be hidden from their knowledge.”
- transitiveTo 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.”
“Stefan was touched by the song's message of hope.”
- dated, transitiveTo affect in a negative way, especially only slightly.
“He had been drinking over lunch, and was clearly touched.”
- Scottish, transitiveTo give royal assent to by touching it with the sceptre.
“The bill was finally touched after many hours of deliberation.”
- slang, transitiveTo obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend).
“I was running short, so I touched old Bertie for a fiver.”
- transitiveTo 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.”
- transitiveTo 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.”
“'Lind Arden was a great genius, one of the greatest tragic actresses in the world. As Lady Macbeth, as Magda, there was no one to touch her.'”
- transitiveTo 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%.”
- transitiveTo mark (a file or document) as having been modified.
- To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
“I mean to touch your love indeed.”
- 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.”
- obsoleteTo infect; to affect slightly.
“Hee was touched with great Remorse”
- To strike; to manipulate; to play on.
“to touch an instrument of music”
“[They] touched their golden harps.”
- To perform, as a tune; to play.
“A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet.”
- To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.
“No decree of mine,[…][to] touch with lightest moment of impulse his free will.”
- countable, uncountableAn act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
“Suddenly, in the crowd, I felt a touch at my shoulder.”
- countable, uncountableThe faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
“With the lights out, she had to rely on touch to find her desk.”
- countable, uncountableThe 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.”
- countable, uncountableThe 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”
- countable, uncountableA distinguishing feature or characteristic.
“Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.”
- countable, uncountableA little bit; a small amount.
“Move it left just a touch and it will be perfect.”
“I'd like to see a touch more enthusiasm in the project.”
“Madam, I have a touch of your condition.”
- countable, uncountableThe part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
“He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch.”
- uncountableA relationship of close communication or understanding.
“He promised to keep in touch while he was away.”
“lose touch”
- countable, uncountableThe ability to perform a task well; aptitude.
“I used to be a great chess player but I've lost my touch.”
“Rovers' hopes of pulling off one of the great European shocks of all time lasted just 10 minutes before Spurs finally found their scoring touch.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableAct or power of exciting emotion.
“Not alone / The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, / Do strongly speak to us.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableAn emotion or affection.
“a true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy”
- countable, obsolete, uncountablePersonal reference or application.
“Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.”
- countable, uncountableA single stroke on a drawing or a picture.
“Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableA brief essay.
“Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableA touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone.
“Now do I play the touch.”
“a neat new monument of touch and alabaster”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableExamination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality.
“equity, the true touch of all laws”
“friends of noble touch”
- countable, uncountableThe 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.”
- countable, uncountableThe children's game of tag.
- countable, uncountableA set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, i.e. less than 5,040.
- countable, slang, uncountableAn 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.”
“Supposedly Pickle has a line on a group of wealthy donors who were about to make a big drop on Chuy's campaign, now that he is in the runoff. I ask Pickle about the timing of this donation because Cra”
“Brody would have to pay her, so if all else failed she would have some control. She would have sex on her terms, not his. She would give him the relief he craved, and also relieve him of 500 quid whil”
- countable, slang, uncountableThe 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 ”
- UK, countable, dated, uncountableTallow.
- countable, uncountableForm; 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”
- countable, uncountableA 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”
- Australia, countable, uncountabletouch football (a variant of rugby league that does not involve tackling)
Formstouches(present, singular, third-person) · touching(participle, present) · touched(participle, past) · touched(past) · touch(infinitive) · touch(first-person, present, singular) · touched(first-person, past, singular) · toucht(archaic, first-person, past, singular) · touch(present, second-person, singular) · touchest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · touched(past, second-person, singular) · touchedst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · toucht(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · toucheth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · touched(past, singular, third-person) · toucht(archaic, past, singular, third-person) · touch(plural, present) · touched(past, plural) · toucht(archaic, past, plural) · touch(present, subjunctive)