| 单词 | to touch wood |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto touch wood f. to touch wood. extracted from touchv.ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > hiding or chasing game > [verb (intransitive)] > play touch wood to touch wood1829 1829 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words (new ed.) Tiggy-touch-wood, a play where children pursue each other, but are exempt (by the law of the game) from capture while touching wood. 1865 W. S. Banks List Provinc. Words Wakefield 74 Tiggery touch wood, a children's game, wherein one who ‘has the tiggs’ tries to ‘tigg’ some other who is not touching wood or does not claim bail or ‘barley’. 1909 H. W. Mabie et al. Young Folks' Treasury X. 398 Very frequently in the excitement of the game a boy touches wood and forgets to whistle. (b) To touch something made of wood as a superstitious action to ward off misfortune or bad luck. Frequently used as an exclamation following an assertion considered to invite bad luck, or tempt fate in some way. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [verb (intransitive)] > touch wood (for luck) to touch wood1898 1898 Pall Mall Mag. 15 141/2 ‘I've a-done pretty tidy. But you'll excuse my pulling up the table-cloth; for when I hears that kind o' talk, I likes to touch wood.’ (To ‘touch wood’ is supposed to avert Heaven's punishment for boastfulness.) 1899 Cornhill Mag. Jan. 9 Till he is safely home again (I am touching wood as I write) I shall be for ever imagining ill. 1916 J. Martin Diary 29 Nov. in Sapper Martin (2010) 30 Haven't had neuralgia for three days—touch wood! 1965 C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xxvi. 378 He ran to touch wood. 2015 Sun (Nexis) 7 Oct. 54 Touch wood I've been quite lucky with injuries. < as lemmas |
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