touch

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To cause or permit a part of the body, especially the hand or fingers, to come in contact with so as to feel: reached out and touched the smooth stone.
2. v. To bring something into light contact with: touched the sore spot with a probe.
3. v. To bring (one thing) into light contact with something else: grounded the radio by touching a wire to it; touching fire to a fuse.
4. v. To press or push lightly; tap: touched a control to improve the TV picture; touched 19 on the phone to get room service.
5. v. To lay hands on in violence: I never touched him!
6. v. To eat or drink; taste: She didn't touch her food.
7. v. To disturb or move by handling: Just don't touch anything in my room!
8. v. To meet without going beyond; adjoin: the ridge where his property touches mine.
9. v. Mathematics To be tangent to.
10. v. To come up to; reach: when the thermometer touches 90°.
11. v. To match in quality; equal: Rival artists can't touch her work at its best.
12. v. To deal with, especially in passing; treat briefly or allusively: some remarks touching recent events.
13. v. To be pertinent to; concern: environmental problems that touch us all.
14. v. To affect the emotions of; move to tender response: an appeal that touched us deeply.
15. v. To injure slightly: plants touched by frost.
16. v. To color slightly; tinge: a white petal touched with pink.
17. v. To draw with light strokes.
18. v. To change or improve by adding fine lines or strokes.
19. v. To stamp (tested metal).
20. v. Slang To wheedle a loan or handout from: touched a friend for five dollars.
21. v. Archaic To strike or pluck the keys or strings of (a musical instrument).
22. v. To play (a musical piece).
23. v. To touch someone or something.
24. v. To be or come into contact: Don't let the live wires touch.
25. n. The act or an instance of touching.
26. n. The physiological sense by which external objects or forces are perceived through contact with the body.
27. n. A sensation experienced in touching something with a characteristic texture: felt the touch of snowflakes on her face.
28. n. A light push; a tap: an electric switch that requires just a touch.
29. n. A discernible mark or effect left by contact with something.
30. n. A small change or addition, or the effect achieved by it: Candlelight provided just the right touch.
31. n. A suggestion, hint, or tinge: a touch of jealousy.
32. n. A mild attack: a touch of the flu.
33. n. A small amount; a dash: a touch of paprika.
34. n. A manner or technique of striking the keys of a keyboard instrument: He played briskly with a light touch.
35. n. The resistance to pressure characteristic of the keys of a keyboard: an old piano with uneven touch.
36. n. An ability to propel a ball a desired distance: a golfer with no touch around the green.
37. n. A facility; a knack: retained his touch as a carpenter in his retirement.
38. n. A characteristic way of doing things: recognized my friend's touch in the choice of the card.
39. n. The state of being in contact or communication: kept in touch with several classmates; out of touch with current trends.
40. n. An official stamp indicating the quality of a metal product.
41. n. Slang The act of approaching someone for a loan or handout.
42. n. Slang A prospect for a loan or handout: a generous person, a soft touch for beggars.
43. n. Sports The area just outside the sidelines in soccer or just outside and including the sidelines in Rugby.
44. touch down To make contact with the ground; land: The spacecraft touched down on schedule.
45. touch off To cause to explode; fire.
46. touch off To initiate; trigger: disclosures that touched off a public uproar.
47. touch off To describe or portray with deft precision.
48. on To deal with (a topic) in passing.
49. on To pertain to; concern.
50. on To approach being; verge on: frenzy that touched on clinical insanity.
51. touch up To improve by making minor corrections, changes, or additions.
52. idiom. base Informal To renew a line of communication: "He went out of his way to touch base with a broad cross section of . . . residents” ( George B. Merry).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To ask from; borrow or obtain from: as, to touch an acquaintance for a dollar.
2. n. In medicine, palpation, especially examination of the cavities of the body by the finger.
3. n. In sugar manufacturing, See string-proof.
4. n. A theft; pocket-picking.
5. To perceive (an object) by means of physical contact with it; especially, to perceive (an object) by bringing the hand into contact with it; hence, to perceive (an object) by bringing something held in the hand (as a cane or a pointer), or otherwise connected with the body, into contact with it.
6. To be in contact with; specifically, in geometry, to be tangent to. See tangent.
7. To come in contact with: literally or figuratively.
8. To be near or contiguous to; impinge or border upon; hence, to come up to; approach; reach; attain to; hence, also, to compare with.
9. To bring into contact.
10. To bring the hand, finger, or the like into contact with; place the hand or finger to or upon; hit or strike gently or lightly; give a slight tap or pat to with the hand, the tip of the finger, something held in the hand, or in any way: as, to touch the hat or cap in salutation; to touch a sore spot; to touch a piece at chess; formerly, in a specific use, to lay the hand or finger upon for the purpose of curing of a disease, especially scrofula, or the disease called the king's evil (a former practice of the sovereigns of France and England).
11. To handle; meddle with; interfere with.
12. To lay hands on for the purpose of harming; hence, to hurt, injure, annoy, or distress.
13. To test by contact, as in trying gold with a touchstone; hence, to test; try; probe.
14. To touch upon; handle or treat lightly or cursorily; refer or allude to, as in passing.
15. To communicate; speak; tell; rehearse; relate; mention.
16. Of a musical instrument, to cause to sound; play: usually applied to instruments that are sounded by striking or twanging, but extended to others.
17. To perform on an instrument, as a piece of music.
18. To paint or form by touches or strokes as of a pen or brush; mark or delineate by light touches or strokes, as an artist.
19. To improve or finish, as a drawing, by adding a stroke here and there, as with a pen, pencil, or brush; retouch: usually with up.
20. To take, as food, drink, etc.; help one's self to; hence, to partake of; taste.
21. To infect or impair by contact; stain; blot; blemish; taint.
22. To impair mentally in some slight degree; affect slightly with craziness: used chiefly in the past participle.
23. To attack; hence, to animadvert upon; take to task; censure; reprove; ridicule.
24. To sting; nettle, as with some sharp speech.
25. To fall upon; strike; affect; impress.
26. To affect or move mentally or emotionally; fill with passion or tender feeling; affect or move, as with pity; hence, to melt; soften.
27. To make an impression on; have an effect on; act on.
28. To influence by impulse; impel forcibly.
29. To affect; concern; relate to.
30. To swindle; cheat; act dishonestly by: as, to touch one's mate.
31. To discharge, as a cannon.
32. To remind; jog the memory of.
33. To be in contact; be in a state of junction, so that no appreciable space is between: as, two spheres touch only in one point.
34. Specifically To lay the hand or finger upon a person for the purpose of curing a disease, especially scrofula, or king's evil.
35. To reach; extend.
36. To make a passing call, as a ship on a voyage: commonly with at, rarely with on.
37. To mention or treat something slightly in discourse; refer cursorily or in passing: commonly with on or upon.
38. To bow or salute by touching the hat or cap.
39. To rob.
40. To stand the test.
41. To have or take effect; act.
42. Nautical, of the sails of a square-rigged vessel, to be in such a position that their weather-leeches shake from the ship being steered so close to the wind.
43. Nautical, to graze the bottom with the keel for a moment, as a vessel under sail, without lessening of the speed.
44. n. That sense by which mechanical pressure upon the surface of the body (the skin, with the lips, the interior of the mouth, etc.) is perceived; sensibility to pressure, weight, and muscular resistance; the sense of feeling; taction. With this is sometimes reckoned sensibility to temperature. The sense of touch is most acute in those parts of the body that are freely movable, especially in the tips of the fingers. It is the most fundamental and least specialized or localized of the senses. See tactile corpuscles, under corpuscle.
45. n. Mental or moral feeling; moral perception or appreciation.
46. n. Contact.
47. n. Figuratively, a close relation of mutual confidence, sympathy, interest, or the like; sympathy; accord or harmony in relation to common interests: as, to be out of touch with the times; to keep in touch with the people.
48. n. Pressure, or application of pressure; impaet; a slight stroke, tap, push, or the like: often used figuratively.
49. n. A slight or brief sound.
50. n. The impression conveyed to the mind by contact or pressure; effect on the sense of contact with something; feel: as, an object with a slimy touch.
51. n. A jog; a hint; a reminder; a slight experience.
52. n. A stroke or dash as with a pen, pencil, or brush, literally or figuratively: as, a touch of bright color; also, any slight added effort or action, such as that expended on some completed work in order to give it finish.

Wiktionary

1. v. Primarily physical senses.
2. v. To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with. [from 14th c.]
3. v. I touched her face softly.
4. v. To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect. [from 14th c.]
5. v. Sitting on the bench, the hem of her skirt touched the ground.
6. v. To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact. [from 14th c.]
7. v. They stood next to each other, their shoulders touching.
8. v. To make physical contact with a thing. [from 14th c.]
9. v. Please can I have a look, if I promise not to touch?
10. v. To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact. [from 14th c.]
11. v. If you touch her, I'll kill you.
12. v. To physically affect in specific ways implied by context. [from 15th c.]
13. v. Frankly, this wood's so strong that sandpaper won't touch it.
14. v. To consume, or otherwise use. [from 15th c.]
15. v. Are you all right? You've hardly touched your lunch.
16. v. Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at). [from 16th c.]
17. v. 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:
18. v. 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.
19. v. This template needs documentation and categorisation. Please create the documentation page.To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate. [from 20th c.]
20. v. Her parents had caught her touching herself when she was fifteen.
21. v. Primarily non-physical senses.
22. v. To imbue or endow with a specific quality. [from 14th c.]
23. v. My grandfather, as many people know, was touched with greatness.
24. v. This template needs documentation and categorisation. Please create the documentation page.To deal with in speech or writing; to mention briefly, to allude to. [from 14th c.]
25. v. 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.2.4.vii:
26. v. 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.
27. v. To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on or upon something). [from 14th c.]
28. v. 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
29. v. "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."
30. v. This template needs documentation and categorisation. Please create the documentation page.To concern, to have a bearing on. [14th-19th c.]
31. v. Stay out of this, it doesn't touch you in any way.
32. v. To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in. [from 14th c.]
33. v. Stefan was touched by the song's message of hope.
34. v. This template needs documentation and categorisation. Please create the documentation page.To affect in a negative way, especially only slightly. [from 16th c.]
35. v. He had been drinking over lunch, and was clearly touched.
36. v. This template needs documentation and categorisation. Please create the documentation page.To give royal assent to by touching it with the sceptre. [from 17th c.]
37. v. The bill was finally touched after many hours of deliberation.
38. v. To steal, or obtain money; to borrow money from. [from 18th c.]
39. v. I was running short, so I touched old Bertie for a fiver.
40. v. To disturb the mental functions of; to make somewhat insane. [from 18th c.]
41. v. You must be touched if you think I'm taking your advice.
42. v. To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality. [from 19th c.]
43. v. 1928, Dorothy L. Sayers, "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers", in Lord Peter Views the Body
44. v. 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.
45. n. An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
46. n. The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
47. n. The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument.
48. n. A distinguishing feature or characteristic.
49. n. A little bit; a small amount.
50. n. The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
51. n. A relationship of close communication or understanding.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To come in contact with; to hit or strike lightly against; to extend the hand, foot, or the like, so as to reach or rest on.
2. v. To perceive by the sense of feeling.
3. v. To come to; to reach; to attain to.
4. v. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
5. v. To relate to; to concern; to affect.
6. v. To handle, speak of, or deal with; to treat of.
7. v. To meddle or interfere with.
8. v. To affect the senses or the sensibility of; to move; to melt; to soften; especially, to cause feelings of pity, compassion, sympathy, or gratitude in.
9. v. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
10. v. To infect; to affect slightly.
11. v. To make an impression on; to have effect upon.
12. v. To strike; to manipulate; to play on.
13. v. To perform, as a tune; to play.
14. v. To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.
15. v. To harm, afflict, or distress.
16. v. To affect with insanity, especially in a slight degree; to make partially insane; -- rarely used except in the past participle.
17. v. To be tangent to. See Tangent, a.
18. v. To lay a hand upon for curing disease.
19. v. To compare with; to be equal to; -- usually with a negative.
20. v. To induce to give or lend; to borrow from; ; hence, to steal from.
21. v. To be in contact; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between.
22. v. To fasten; to take effect; to make impression.
23. v. To treat anything in discourse, especially in a slight or casual manner; -- often with on or upon.
24. v. To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
25. n. The act of touching, or the state of being touched; contact.
26. n. The sense by which pressure or traction exerted on the skin is recognized; the sense by which the properties of bodies are determined by contact; the tactile sense. See Tactile sense, under Tactile.
27. n. Act or power of exciting emotion.
28. n. An emotion or affection.
29. n. Personal reference or application.
30. n. A stroke.
31. n. A single stroke on a drawing or a picture.
32. n. Feature; lineament; trait.
33. n. The act of the hand on a musical instrument; bence, in the plural, musical notes.
34. n. A small quantity intermixed; a little; a dash.
35. n. A hint; a suggestion; slight notice.
36. n. A slight and brief essay.
37. n. A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone.
38. n. Hence, examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality.
39. n. The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers; ; also, the manner of touching, striking, or pressing the keys of a piano.
40. n. The broadest part of a plank worked top and but (see Top and but, under Top, n.), 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.
41. n. That part of the field which is beyond the line of flags on either side.
42. n. A boys' game; tag.
43. n. A set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, that is, less than 5,040.
44. n. An act of borrowing or stealing.
45. n. Tallow; -- a plumber's term.