| 释义 |
touchn. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: French touche ; touch v. Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman tuche, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French touche (French touche ) denoting any of various instruments used to touch or handle something (12th cent. in Old French as toche ), action or influence of something (c1250), quality or fineness of gold, silver, or another precious metal (c1260, frequently in touche de Paris ), test, trial (1280), physical contact, act of touching (end of the 13th cent.), stone used for testing precious metals (1313), in Anglo-Norman also agreement (c1300 or earlier), action of touching or handling a musical instrument (early 15th cent. or earlier; < toucher touch v.), and partly (ii) < touch v.Compare Old Occitan tocha (first half of the 13th cent.), Catalan toca (end of the 13th cent.), feminine, and also Old Occitan toc (first half of the 13th cent.), Catalan toc (1335; attested earliest in uncertain sense), Spanish toco (second half of the 13th cent., apparently earliest with reference to the toll of a bell), Italian tocco (14th cent.), masculine, all in senses ‘act of touching’, ‘knock, stroke, blow’, and similar senses. Specific senses. With sense 2 compare classical Latin tactus tact n. (14th cent. in British sources in this sense, e.g. de tactu Londoni ). In sense 5c after French touche (1555 in Middle French in fencing). In sense 9d after Italian toccata toccata n. In sense 10c after French touche (1694 in this sense; 1627 in sense ‘stroke or dash of colour in a picture’). With sense 15 compare post-classical Latin touchum (from 1388 in British sources in this sense). With sense 3a compare post-classical Latin touchum (1369 in a British source in this sense), tucha , thoca (13th cent. in Italian sources), Italian tocca (1335, with specific reference to a piece of gold with some admixture of baser metals which is used to test the fineness of another piece of gold). In sense 16 after French touche (1630 in the passage translated in quot. 1659, or earlier, in this sense). In sense 19 after Middle Dutch treke trick, sleight of hand (Dutch †treek ; < the same base as trekken trek v.; perhaps compare trick n.). In uses relating to keeping or breaking a promise (see to hold touch (also the touches) at Phrases 1c, to keep touch at Phrases 1d, to break touch at Phrases 1a), perhaps with reference to the practice of striking hands, or of touching a sacred object (compare touch v. 1), when making a covenant. Note on forms. With forms in tw- compare discussion at touch v. I. Senses relating to the assaying of metal. 1. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > qualities of metals > [noun] > fineness or purity society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > precious metal > [noun] > gold or silver > degree of purity of a1325 (2011) xli. 108 That is to witen, gold of certein touche. 1465 J. Payn in (2004) II. 314 j harneyse complete of the touche of Milleyn. 1487 Cely Papers in (1961) 42 151 Of fyne syluyr iij s. iij d. le ovnsse wyll make hewen in the Tower yf ytt be as good as Pares towche. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny II. xxxiii. ix. 479 An act..for the proofe and allowance of silver deniers, what touch and what poise they should have. 1697 H. Layton 9 Gold shall be of the fineness of the Touch of Paris. 1711 C. Lockyer v. 135 10 Tale of Gold 93 fine, sold for 94 Tale weight of Sisee Silver is 7 above Touch. 1766 T. Brooks 6 1 Madrass Rupee..is Country Touch 97/ 8. China Touch 983/ 4. 1905 C. J. Jackson xv. 354 It is probable that the ‘touch’ of Chester was regulated by its Earl and not by Parliament. 1994 J. Ogden in D. A. Scott et al. 159 The ‘touch of Paris’ was actually only 19.2 carats pure, that is, 80% gold. 2003 133 116 A valuation in August 1639 of the plate left by the recently deceases fifth earl of Thomond of Bunratty Castle assessed his plate of ‘London Touch’ at 4s. 10d. per ounce. the world > relative properties > kind or sort > [noun] a1500 (?1388) in T. Wright (1859) I. 274 Fresch of the newe towch, incedunt ridiculose, Lityl or noght in her powch, pascuntur deliciose. 1579 J. Stubbs sig. Avij To be of one assaie or touche with the idolatrous and trayterous Israelits. 1615 G. Markham i. i. 9 The Northparts are..famous for the touch and swiftnesse of their horses. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iv. i. 50 Come my sweet wife, my deerest Mother, and My Friends of Noble touch . View more context for this quotation 1622 E. Chaloner 58 Amaziahs counsell was of as good touch, as the flattering lips of worldly friends do vse to impart. 1821 C. Lamb in Aug. 153/1 He never stoops to catch a glittering something..before he quite knows whether it be true touch or not. 1878 C. Baber in Corr. with Govt. India respecting Negotiations with China on Opium (1882) 29 in (C. 3378) XLVIII. 547 The advantage of ‘touch’, or percentage of extract, possessed by the Indian drug. society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun] > on gold or silver 1423–4 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §54. m. 30 That no..man that werketh selver hernois, put noon therof to the sale..or [= ere] that it be touched wyth the touche of the liberdisheed, that that may resonabli bere the touche. 1443 in J. Raine (1855) II. 132 A quart pot of silver with the touche of Parys. 1522 (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/20) f. 228v Which spones hath the toche of the Goldesmythes. 1526–7 in C. Welch (1902) I. iii. 118 A fyn for deliu[er]yng vessell vn markyt wt his towch..v s. 1594 H. Plat 79 Plate as either carieth no touch, or so old a touch as the buier shall not bee acquainted withall. 1697 142 If the Keeper of the Touch mark such harness with the Leopards head. 1852 A. Ryland 38 The Touch is used in the old Statutes to denote in some places the Standard, in some the punch used in marking the wares, and in others the mark impressed upon the plate. 1860 J. Scarth 116 Of the enormous amounts of gold..the greater part is guaranteed by a certain touch. 1936 R. A. Freeman i. 15 Mr. Polton took the coffee pot..and having stuck his eye-glass in his eye, examined the hall-mark and the maker's ‘touch’. 1980 ‘J. Gash’ ii. 21 Some trouble..about possession of a silversmith's ‘touch’, a metal marker for hallmarking. 2003 J. D. Davis 163/2 All three [dishes] bear the touch of Joseph Spackman of London. 3. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > marble > black society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > [noun] > material the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [noun] > marble > black 1423–4 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §54. m. 30 If it may be proved, that the forsed keper of the touche afore seid, touche ony such hernois wyth the liberdisheed, but it be as fyn in alay as the sterlyng, that thenne the forseid keper of the tuche..forfet double the valu to the kyng. a1475 Recipe Painting in (1844) 1 155 (MED) Lapus lazuly..be a fyne blew colour, and with many strakes of gold schewinge ther among as it were strakes on a towche. 1476 in P. E. Jones (1961) VI. 112 (MED) [3] inggottys, [with other small things as] nyppers, pountrelles, [boxes and a] towche. 1609 J. Davies sig. A2v Vpon the Crosse (As on a Touch) we may Trie our soules value whter great, or small. 1991 M. Campbell in J. Blair & N. Ramsay (2001) vi. 141 A further statute, of 1478,..made the Goldsmiths' Company itself liable to penalties for the misdeeds of the Keeper of the Touch. society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > testing a1450 ( Libel Eng. Policy (Laud) in T. Wright (1861) II. 187 Whereof was fyned metalle gode and clene, As the touche, no bettere coude be sene. 1469 in (1806) 15 171 (MED) There shalbe made assaie of the seid moneys of gold and sylver..as they shall see to be made by fyre or by touche. 1579 W. Wilkinson f. 41 Would he neuer bring his siluer to the touch, nor his gold to the ballaunce? 1587 J. Higgins (new ed.) Pinnar ii Good metall bides the touch that trieth out the gold. 1680 W. de Britaine xxvi. 88 He is like Gold which hath too much allay that feareth the Touch. 1734 I. 67/1 They bore the Touch, and I try'd 'em with Aqua-fortis, and they bore that too. 1763 W. Lewis 124 By accustoming himself to compare the colours of a good set of touch-needles, it is presumed he will be able to avoid being imposed on, either in the touch itself, or by the abuses, said to be sometimes committed. 1837 N. Whittock et al. 279 This test, by the touch, is performed at the present day, and gives a ready proof of degrees of purity for most ordinary purposes. 1875 W. Chaffers (ed. 5) 172 This can be distinguished to the nicety of a quarter of a grain of the fineness of silver, and a thirty-second of a karat of the fineness of gold, a precision which the scraping and the touch could never approach. 2007 A. Hessayon i. 39 Assaying was an ancient art consisting of a number of techniques to test the quantity of pure gold or silver in an object. One was the touch, whereby metal was rubbed on a touchstone [etc.]. the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > [noun] > criterion 1581 R. Mulcaster iii. 13 I will binde vpon proofe, and let triall be the tuche. 1597 W. Shakespeare iv. ii. 9 O Buckingham, now do I plaie the touch, To trie if thou be currant gold indeed. View more context for this quotation 1624 F. Quarles vii. med. xiii Affliction is the Touch, whereby we proove, Whether 't be Gold, or guilt. 1688 R. Holme iii. 206/1 Verity is not ashamed of the Light, nor afraid to come to the touch. c1690–1710 Ld. Montrose (single sheet) He either fears his fate too much, or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch, to gain or lose at all. 1706 W. Kennett III. 561/1 That when it came to the Touch, they wou'd never bear the Brunt of a Battle. 1886 R. L. Stevenson ii. 10 Till I had put the matter to the touch of proof. 1925 Jan. 72/1 You must go to the Pennsylvania Dutch and put your fate to the touch. 2002 J. Beyrle in T. H. Taylor xvii. 269 It was on a Tuesday in January 1945 that we put it to the touch. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > marble > black a1509 Will of Henry VII in J. H. Parker (ed. 5) I. 477 In which place we wol, that..be made a Towmbe of Stone called Touche, sufficient in largieur for us booth. 1548 f. lxxxxviv Gates, all like Masonrie, of White and Blacke, like Touche and White Merbell. 1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto xlii. lxviii. 356 The Porch was all of Porpherie and Tutch. a1647 T. Habington (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. iii. 410 Noble monuments..formed of Tuche, Marble, Alabaster and Rauns. 1664 T. Herbert (new ed.) 152 For several parts of it was as bright and splendant as Tuch or Steel-mirrour. 1708 E. Hatton I. 247/2 To whose memory is erected this Monumental Verse, which may prove as durable as Touch or Marble. 1723 J. Dart II. 22 This is suppos'd to be compos'd of real Marble, as Porphyry, Touch, Jasper, Lydian, Alabaster, and Serpentine. 1807 J. Britton IX. 417 In the church at Prestwould is a monument of alabaster and touch. 1846 W. White 445 The Church..contains a monument of alabaster and touch. 1904 61 222 The happy combination of alabaster work with Purbeck marble or the foreign black marble called touch. 1985 June 396 Garret Johnson's Southwark shop charged £60 for a multi-coloured chimney-piece of alabaster, marble, touch..and rance. II. An act of physical contact, and related senses. 5. the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > [noun] > a slight or light blow c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 12020 So þat þe erl of wareine slou atte verste touche Biuore þe iustises atte bench sir alein de la souche. a1400 (a1325) (Fairf. 14) l. 14012 Þer ho fande any touche of sare [Vesp. ani breck or sare, Trin. Cambr. chyn or soore] wiþ hir þingus anoynt hit þare. c1440 (a1400) (Thornton) l. 605 (MED) Swylke a touche at þat tyme he taughte hym in tene. 1581 T. Howell sig. G.ijv For some perchance will byde a toutch or two, And will not seeme to flye when you shall fall. a1640 P. Massinger Guardian ii. i, in (1655) 32 May we not have a touch at Lawyers? 1729 R. Bradley iv. 255 To start, or fly out of the Way, at the least Touch of a Whip. 1778 C. Dibdin ix. 25 I wish I could catch any body telling me of it, I'd have a touch at them. 1830 W. Carleton I. 123 You would be apt to have other reasons for giving your horse..a pretty sharp touch of the spurs. 1879 F. W. Robinson ii. xvii ‘It requires the finest touch’, said Mr. Slitherwick, shutting one eye to admire the position of the balls, ‘one of your very best touches, Mr. Oliver’. 1905 24 Dec. 6/1 Who gives the touch with the hammer? 1933 C. S. Lewis ii. i. 38 Mr. Enlightenment turned the pony's head up the by-road, gave it a touch with the whip, and in a few moments he was out of sight. 2015 (Nexis) 23 Sept. 52 Lewandowski needed just nine touches to score his [five] goals. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > reproach > [noun] > instance of 1522 (de Worde) (1909) sig. C.i How sayste thou now folye hast thou not a touche? 1667 J. Milton ix. 1143 To whom soon mov'd with touch of blame thus Eve. View more context for this quotation c1720 M. Prior 29 It yet may feel the nicer touch Of Wycherley's or Congreve's wit. 1852 W. M. Thackeray II. v. 82 There was a hard touch for his Grace,..in the concluding sentence of the Don. 1809 J. Roland 219 Be not angry at receiving a touch, but take care to avoid it. 1895 Jan. 76/2 In France and Italy a touch counts, as it obviously should, on either side of the body. 1906 Apr. 319/1 In the foil contest Zœllner scored four touches to Gradle's three. 1942 4 May 99/1 (caption) Epee touches are valid on any part of the body. 2002 R. Cohen v. xvi. 374 In quick succession, he scored all three touches against Gaudin. 6. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > [noun] the world > life > the body > sense organ > touch organ > [noun] a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 195 (MED) Bysides þat place beeþ men þat heleþ smytynge of serpentes wiþ touche or wiþ spotel. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) v. l. 269 For he..preide, That wherupon his hond he leide, It scholde thurgh his touche anon Become gold. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil iii. iv. 36 The Harpyes..with thair laithlie tuiche all thing file thai. 1574 T. Samson in J. Bradford To Rdr. sig. A.4v Let those secure men marke this well, which pray without touch of brest, as the Pharisey dyd. 1681 H. More iv. Notes 120 He healed the Blind and the Lame with Spittle and touch. 1705 No. 4126/3 They never had before received the Royal Touch. 1785 W. Hastings in C. Wilkins tr. 8 He passed the beads of his rosary, one after another, though his fingers, repeating with the touch of each..one of the names of God. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Break, break, Break in (new ed.) II. 229 But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand! 1867 W. D. Howells (ed. 2) vii. 97 Rooms in a tumble-down old palace, where the walls, shamelessly smarted up with coarse paper, crumble at your touch. c1930 iii. 26 My only answer was a gentle pressure of my hand on his manly weapon, which throbbed beneath my touch. 1988 U. Holden i. 7 She touched our hands which embarrassed us, we were not used to the touch of adults. 2002 A. Phillips i. xx. 108 His touch lingered on the fluted, molluscular ridges and lips of the dull brass horn. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) v. l. 7147 (MED) Whan I beclippe hire on the wast, Yit ate leste I stele a tast..and so winne I therby A lusti touch, a good word eke, Bot al the remenant to seke Is fro mi pourpos wonder ferr. c1450 (?a1422) J. Lydgate (Durh.) (1961) i. l. 275 And euery wyght grevyde with sekenesse A touche of hir, made hem hoole a noon. 1614 S. Purchas (ed. 2) ix. vii. 864 He toucheth the face and breast with cold touches. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. iv. 60 Ruffian: let goe that rude vnciuill touch . View more context for this quotation 1668 Bp. J. Wilkins 126 Crane Fly. Farinaceous wings; being covered with a mealy substance easily coming off upon a touch. 1747 B. Franklin Let. 1 Sept. in (1751) 16 We electrise a person twenty or more times running, with a touch of the finger on the wire. 1778 S. O'Halloran I. ii. i. 42 Gadel..was bit by a snake, which Moses cured by a touch of his wand. 1842 L. E. Landon I. xiv. 182 An alum-basket, which looked as if it would crumble at a touch. 1898 G. B. Shaw i. 6 The porter..receives it with a submissive touch to his cap. 1915 Dec. 39/2 Make the trains scoot around with a touch of your finger. 1976 C. V. Allen iv. 70 His nearness, his touches, his eyes seeking hers sent something inside her all soft and welcoming. 2007 June (On Time Suppl.) 8/2 The countdown can be reset with a single touch of the button. the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 2985 Fra toche of hir i saued þe. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 2860 (MED) Sche..Ay kepte hir clene from touche of any man. a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate (Arun.) (1911) l. 1669 (MED) The pryve sighes..The touches stole..Al this in soth descryven I ne can. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. i. 140 Who is as free from touch, or soyle with her As she from one vngot. View more context for this quotation a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Queene of Corinth iv. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher (1647) sig. Ccccccv/1 I long to have the first touch of her too. 1667 J. Yonge (1963) (modernized text) ii. 49 As soon as you kiss one woman all the rest leave her to you, and then it's the fashion to bargain for a touch. 1719 in T. D'Urfey V. 60 I took but a touch in jest. 1916 J. Joyce v. 269 All the priests used to be dining there. By hell, I think they all had a touch. 1922 J. Joyce 86 Give us a touch, Poldy. God, I'm dying for it. the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > [noun] > by physical means > by touch 1771 III. 211/2 This variation sometimes makes the examination of the abdomen more certain than the touch of the vagina. 1805 14 245 Had we..trusted to the touch, it might have been said we were deceived. 1852 27 Oct. 556/1 Yet the explorations per rectum and per vaginam separately, did not lead to the detection of the tumour..; but had the double touch been put in practice, the tumour would have been detected. 1937 31 July 211/2 In our clinic pelvic examinations during labour are in general limited to rectal touch. 1998 H. L. Wolfe & B. Flaws x. 89 Traditionally, abdominal health is ascertained through palpation (touch). 2015 6 212/1 Foreign objects placed over peritoneal reflection cannot be detected by rectal touch. society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > line > distance between troops 1788 D. Dundas 128 The great points that insure the exactness of the march in front, cannot be too often repeated; the perfect squareness of each individual's body; the touch of the files; [etc.]. 1812 A. Smyth 93 At the seventh [word of command], they preserve the touch with the left elbow. 1877 23 The right-hand or left-hand man being first placed, the remainder will fall in in line one after the other, closing lightly towards him, turning the elbow slightly outwards. Soldiers must be carefully instructed in the ‘Touch’, as, in this formation, it is the principal guide when marching. 1886 No. 133. 190 I have seen battalion after battalion pass me at Aldershot marching in column, and the men do not march by touch. 1930 E. Raymond vii. 103 They filed forward to their night fatigue,..over the plateau under view of the Turks; their silence broken only by an occasional voice: ‘Keep touch..Put that light out!..Break step.’ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > hiding or chasing game > [noun] > tag 1828 24 Touch. This is a sport of speed... One volunteers to be the player, who is called Touch; it is the object of the other players to run from him and avoid him. 1858 ‘G. Forrest’ ii. 11 Let us go on with our game which we were playing when the tea-bell rang. Can you play at ‘Touch’, White? 1889 J. K. Jerome xv. 261 I had an idea it came natural to a body, like rounders and touch. 1928 7 Jan. 62/5 When some one suggests to play a game of ‘touch’ just propose this new way of playing it. 1998 22 Aug. (Seven section) 10/2 Tig, tag, or touch. The simplest chase game ever. One person is it or on and he or she has to chase after the players. 7. the world > space > distance > nearness > [noun] > contiguity a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iv. viii. 154 Isidre seiþ by þe touch of þe blood menstruales fruyt growiþ noȝt but drieþ..and dryeþ [probably read dyeþ; L. moriuntur] herbes, and treen leseþ here fruyt. c1400 (?c1380) l. 252 With-outen towche of any tothe he tult in his þrote. a1500 ( J. Lydgate tr. (Lansd.) (1974) l. 492 As a shert the body next doth touche, With whoos touche the bodi is nat offe [corrected by later hand to offended], [etc.]. a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1590) ii. xi. sig. V5v The touch of the cold water made a prettie kinde of shrugging come ouer her bodie. 1600 W. Shakespeare iii. ii. 268 And not one vessell scape the dreadfull touch of Merchant-marring rocks? View more context for this quotation 1663 J. Beale Let. 2 Nov. in R. Boyle (2001) II. 160 From my childehood I have a corne on the inside of my little toe... The touch of the shoe..gives mee a deeper torment then any other incision. a1727 W. Wotton Life Robert Boyle in (1994) ix. 131 A sort of Fungus that will when it is thoroughly dry take Fire instantly in the open Air upon the Touch of a single spark. 1785 W. Cowper ii. 11 The flax That falls asunder at the touch of fire. 1836 Aug. 495/2 Ruddy-brown juice gushing forth at the touch of his steel. 1874 A. O'Shaughnessy 40 Her passing touch was death to all, Her passing look a blight. 1905 27 May 1147 Time and again, I have seen the skin ‘shiver’ at the touch of the knife. 1947 K. Patchen 15 She felt its touch on her cheek. 2007 No. 48. 59/3 An ordinary recorder and tiny body-worn microphone will prevail in most cases, but even a glancing touch from a shirt collar may distort the sound. the world > relative properties > number > geometry > point > [noun] > of intersection or contact a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. vii. 186 A corner is þe toche and metynge of tweye lynes so þat aþir touche oþir. ?c1400 in J. O. Halliwell (1839) 62 Counte þe poyntes fro þe begynnyng of þe side of þe vmbre to þe touche of þe perpendicle. 1551 R. Record i. xxix In the very poynte of the touche muste I make an angle. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid iii. f. 81 Such a touch of circles is euer in one poynt onely. 1616 A. Rathborne i. ii. lvi. sig. E5v If a right line be a tangent to a circle, and another right line be drawne from the touch..to what point soeuer in the circumference; [etc.]. 1671 J. Brown vi. 115 By the Point G, and the touch of an Arch about E, draw the Circle GE, to cut the limb into two equal parts. 1700 E. Howard iv. 278 The wonderful Extent, and Power of Geometry, computatively Explains by the vastness of its Science, all other Angles, Mathematically qualified, except that which is lineally annex'd to the touch of the Circle. the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [noun] > narrow > from touching 1837 T. Bacon I. xiii. 304 I sprung over the terrible chasm to terra firma. Ah, ha! it was a near touch. 1866 C. Dickens Mugby Junction v, in Extra Christmas No., 10 Dec. 27/1 The next instant the hind coach passed my engine by a shave. It was the nearest touch I ever saw. 1870 129 It was a very near touch for first turn between Souvenir and Salvia. 1920 June 5/3 ‘A close touch, mate,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Aye, a close touch.’ 8. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > [noun] a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. cxvi. 1266 In alle wormes is witte of touche and of taste. a1456 J. Lydgate Seying of Nightingale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 185 in (1911) 228 (MED) For þoffence of my wittes fyve, My touche, my taast, myn hering did appalle, Smellyng and sight ful feoble were als blyue. 1599 J. Davies 46 By touch the first pure qualities we learne, Which quicken all things, hote, cold, moyst, and drie. 1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa i. lxi. 137 Now the touch only is common to all animals. 1697 G. Stanhope tr. P. Charron I. x. 96 Let him put it to the Tryal of another Sense, and judge of it by the Smell: But possibly it may have lain among Apples, and retain the Scent: Then consult the Touch. a1704 J. Locke Elem. Nat. Philos. xi, in (1720) 223 The fifth and last of our Senses is Touch; a sense spread over the whole body, tho' it be most eminently plac'd in the ends of the fingers. 1764 T. Reid vi. §8. 213 That figure and that extension which are objects of touch have been tortured ten thousand ways for twenty centuries. 1851 W. B. Carpenter (ed. 2) 551 There is strong reason to regard the sense of Taste as only a refined kind of Touch, combined with the sense of Smell. 1894 20 Jan. 144/1 A corresponding deterioration of the sense of touch. 1963 J. Moynahan (1966) iv. iii. 152 For Lawrence touch is a more powerful mode of connectedness than sight. 2007 May 33/2 For too long we've bought only with our eyes, forgetting the importance of our other food-judging senses—taste, touch and smell. a1425 (a1400) (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 779 Fyngers and taes, fote and hande, Alle his touches [a1500 Lansd. lymmes] er tremblande. a1425 ( H. Daniel (Wellcome 225) 157 (MED) Sa gas furth as þe toþer in þe ryght half, & þis ar callyd nervi tangebiles (þa towchys or ellys þe synowes of þe touch), For in þam & by þam is touch & felynge, & pryncipaly in þe handys & in þe fete. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > quality of being tangible > [noun] 1684 J. Dryden Epil. Opening New House in 289 A Country Lip may have the Velvet touch. 1804 J. Grahame 28 The smooth birch With rind of silken touch. 1834 5 No. 26. 164 The skin affords what is technically and emphatically called the touch,—a criterion second to none in judging of the feeding properties of an ox. The touch may be good or bad, fine or harsh, or, as it is often termed, hard or mellow. 1887 43 583 This is marked by an increase in the quantity of shell-fragments,..which give it a gritty touch not unlike the Totternhoe Stone. 1914 A. F. Shand xiv. 387 The French eat a certain kind of snail, and this disgusts the English, not because they have tasted them and found that the taste directly excites disgust, but because they recall their cold and slimy touch. 1991 Aug. 89 The still-living body was ‘cadaverized’, assuming in half a day the cold touch and hideous aspect of an aged, shrunken corpse after a prolonged wasting illness. 2005 30 July 10/3 Vicuna fibre is typically 10 times more expensive than cashmere and was once renowned as the cloth of kings because of its unique silky touch and heat-insulating properties. 9. Music. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > melody or succession of sounds > [noun] > snatch of melody society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing keyboard instrument > [noun] a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxxi. 1386 Sonne comeþ..of blaste as of trompe and pype, oþer of touche and smytyng of cymbale and harpe and oþere suche þat sowneþ wiþ smytynge and strokes. c1400 (?c1390) (1940) l. 120 Nwe nakryn noyse with þe noble pipes, Wylde werbles & wyȝt wakned lote, Þat mony hert ful hiȝe hef at her towches. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 443 Nor in þis world þer is noon Instrument Delicious, þorugh wynd, or touche, or corde..That as þat feste it nas wel herd accorde. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 2081 (MED) Myn erys with wex & gommys clere Were stoppid so þat I ne myȝt here Touche nor werble of her instrumentis. 1600 W. Shakespeare v. i. 67 With sweetest tutches pearce your mistres eare, and draw her home with musique. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. ii. 78 Orpheus Lute,..Whose golden touch could soften steele and stones. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton iv. 686 With Heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds. View more context for this quotation 1673 J. Milton At Vacation Exercise in (new ed.) 65 Listening to what unshorn Apollo sings To th' touch of golden wires. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth x, in 2nd Ser. I. 264 I hear no unpleasing touch of minstrelsy. 1879 A. J. Hipkins in G. Grove I. 647 A sensitive instrument of touch, instead of one of mere percussion. 1884 F. Taylor in G. Grove IV. 152 Pianoforte music demands two distinct kinds of touch, the one adapted for..brilliant passages, the other for sustained melodies. 1907 9 Nov. 17/2 As she grows in body she will develop the firmness in touch needed for carrying power and a singing tone. 2011 Y. L. Kosovske 18 Relaxation of the arms and hands is vital to achieving a gentle touch and to conveying expression on the harpsichord. society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > [noun] > fingering 1597 R. Tofte tr. L. Ariosto i. sig. K4 Her touch on lute, and song did well describe, In heau'n, and not on earth that she was bore. 1601 J. Marston et al. i. sig. A3 I had the best stroke, the sweetest touch, but now..I am falne from the Fidle. a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Captaine i. iii, in (1647) sig. Ggv/1 You had a pleasant touch 'ath Cithron once, If idelnesse have not bereft you of it. 1785 C. Macklin (new ed.) iii. i. 40 Her touch on the harpsichord is quite brilliant, and really her voice not amiss. 1834 T. Medwin I. 273 I never heard but one woman who had so firm a touch [on the piano]. 1864 G. Meredith I. vi. 61 Such a touch on the violin as my father has, you never heard. 1911 J. Huneker ix. 424 His touch is like no other in the world. 1941 H. L. Mencken 29 Oct. (1989) 165 We had been sitting together at the Saturday Night Club's piano since 1911... His touch, like mine, was on the heavy side. 2015 (Nexis) 29 Aug. (Review section) 12 Six of the eight tracks are Diehl's refined and intricate originals, played with his exquisite touch and phrasing. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > [noun] > response to touch of player 1696 E. Phillips (new ed.) In Musick we say an Organ or Harpsichord has a good Touch, when the Keys lye down, and are neither too loose nor too stiff. 1784 F. Hopkinson Let. 24 May in T. Jefferson (1953) VII. 286 Some of the Quills, will after a little Use, crack, and thereby loose their elastic Spring, whilst others retain their full Vigour, thereby rendering the Touch unequal. 1853 94 Its touch is ready and responsive, and the instrument may be called a good one. 1884 W. Parratt in G. Grove IV. 153 It is rare to find any two [organ] manuals with a similar touch, and the amount of force required to press down the key varies within wide limits. Even on the same keyboard the touch is appreciably heavier in the bass. 1885 C. G. W. Lock 4th Ser. 279/2 The next item, and one claiming serious attention, is the ‘touch’, for on this depends in a great measure the pleasure and comfort of the performer. 1985 J. Kerman 209 The..fortepiano, with its wooden frame, relatively light stringing, shallow touch, simple action, and thin, clear, varied tone. 2003 (Nexis) 26 Sept. b3 I can play a piano and know immediately whether or not I like the instrument's touch or its tonal qualities. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > music on specific instrument > [noun] > keyboard music a1725 f. 1v Contents A Touch—Mr. Bird. a1782 in G. Grove (1889) IV. 154 (title of MS in Lib. Roy. Coll. Music) Mr. Kelway's touches. 10. the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > of something which makes a mark 1569 E. Fenton tr. P. Boaistuau f. 41 Good Emeraudes do proue them selues by the touch stone called Lidia, which if they be naturall and true, they leaue a marke like the touche of brasse [Fr. elles y delaissent vne macule d'airain]. 1664 H. Power i. 31 I..glew'd them to the object-plate, as I do stronger Insects with a touch of Turpentine. 1749 iii. §9. 130 Give a small Touch of pure White upon the Sight of the Eye. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in 2nd Ser. II. 109 Maybe a touch o' a blackit cork, or a slake o' paint. 1856 Aug. 420/1 Those who are merely too pale..—those lucky enough, in short, to require only a touch of rouge. 1926 Aug. 188/2 The sheets were then mounted on boards, and a few touches of paint completed the illusion. 1955 Aug. 184/1 A drop of oil or a touch of hard lubricant here and there. 2013 (Nexis) 1 Nov. 67 Try applying a touch of lipstick to the cheeks as an impromptu blush. society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > work of art > detail of a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 38 It [sc. a picture] Tutors Nature, Artificiall strife Liues in these toutches, liuelier then life. View more context for this quotation 1622 D. Browne 165 Some marke or touch of the pen left there. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal p. iv Some few Touches of your Lordship, some secret Graces which I have endeavour'd to express after your manner. 1712 J. Addison No. 357. ¶8 Milton never fails of..bestowing the last finishing Touches to every Incident. 1768 W. Gilpin 39 Unless the pencil add those high-blown touches, which mark the passion. 1847 L. Hunt II. x. 212 She might be suspected of having given it some after touches. 1883 Oct. 690/1 The just gradations by which the interest and meaning are sustained to the last touch of the brush. 1894 J. T. Fowler in St. Adamnan Introd. 74 Eddius's graphic touch about St. Wilfrid..some life-like touches in Colgan's Vita Secunda. 1938 Sept. 46/1 Do not leave a wide square end here: streamline the thing properly. Little touches like this increase speed. 1969 K. Clark xi. 290 Light should be rendered scientifically, in touches of primary colour, as if it had passed through a spectrum. 2006 22 May 3/1 Putting the final touches to his design for the Saga Insurance Garden. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > skill or art > artistic skill 1754 J. B. tr. A.-J. Dézallier d’Argenville 85 This Painter is sprightly in his touch, his taste in colouring is very good. 1815 J. Smith II. 748 Painting in crayons..may serve to teach him a masterly freedom of touch. 1834 Jan. 174 His [sc. Milton's] touch is free and bold,—that of Shakspeare airy and elastic. 1880 J. L. Warren iv. 35 In Mountaine's early Chippendale style, and with that engraver's touch. 1913 28 343/2 The color under his [sc. Cézanne's] touch is vital, forceful, brilliant, but not particularly charming. 1975 H. Acton iv. 59 The feline humour and lightness of touch were entirely Nancy's, and the style is more finished than in her previous novels. 1984 13 Feb. 88/1 His [sc. Ingmar Bergman's] timing is too slow, his touch too heavy. 2010 (Nexis) 3 Sept. c19 Born with a Renaissance touch, he [sc. Salvador Dalí] never stopped trying out different ways of manipulating his materials. 1867 Oct. 534 The charming little touch of how he rehearsed his first English speech to his adoring wife will go to the heart of hundreds of public speakers. 1890 J. Fiske 25 Aug. (1940) 582 We have put up portière curtains in parlour and music room, a lovely touch. 1920 8 July 142/2 That last exquisite little touch characteristic of the well-groomed woman—gloves pleasing to the eye. 1953 8 Jan. 41 Many of the suits will flatter almost any figure, for imaginative little touches have been added to conceal a woman's bad points and play up her good ones. 1989 A. Aird 28 It's a place appreciated most by our older readers, with nice touches like the day's newspapers..hanging on reading sticks. 2004 May 16/1 We were presented with four menus.., including a..vegetarian menu..—a nice touch as veggies are usually woefully undercatered. the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > [noun] > magnetizing 1576 T. Digges Perfit Descr. Cælestiall Orbes in L. Digges (rev. ed.) sig. O.4v So in the needle beinge a body, endued with two seuerall proprieties the one of Grauitye & Leuitye.., the other beinge Magneticall and receiued by the touche which causeth him to rest alway in that one Meridiane. 1597 W. Barlow sig. Av For a stone of this forme giueth foorth his vertue in the Touche a great deale more forcibly then it can, if by reason of the euil shape thereof, his force in himselfe be confusedly dispersed, and not ioyntly directed to his due points. 1638 C. Aleyn 64 Henry with his wrongs is strooke, Like needles of the same magneticke touch, If you moove one, the other moves as much. 1670 H. Care tr. H. C. Agrippa 14 A Needle that hath suffered the Magnetick Touch, stands alwayes trembling till it looks full on its beloved North. 1706 (Royal Soc.) 24 2143 This gave so vigorous a Touch, that I am almost of opinion, It is the best way of Touching. 1750 J. Michell 39 When I first thought of trying the double Touch, I promised myself great advantages from it. 1849 H. M. Noad (ed. 3) 308 Mr. Michell states that two magnets will, by his process of double touch, communicate as strong a magnetic virtue to a steel bar, as a single magnet of five times the strength, when used in the process of single touch. 1892 A. W. Poyser ii. 16 The method of Separate Touch probably produces the most regular magnets. 1922 J. A. Crowther xxx. 183 (caption) Magnetisation by divided touch. 1959 M. H. Shamos v. 70 A steel wire 25 inches long, magnetized by the double touch method. 2012 R. McCormmach iii. 62 The advantage of the double-touch method is the greater force that can be brought to bear. society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > arrival > passing call during voyage 1614 N. Downton Let. 20 Nov. in W. Foster (1897) (modernized text) II. 167 Without any touch or stay, more than contrary winds enforced, we attained to Saldania the 15th of June. 1621 (ed. 3) 1331 His first touch was vpon the Island of Cerigo. society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > bell-ringing > [noun] > going through all the changes > changes > specific 1788 W. Jones et al. vi. 54 He may then venture on other short peals or touches (as they are called). 1845 10 Aug. They rang a touch of bob major. 1872 H. T. Ellacombe ix. 471 A peal..means the performance of the full number of changes which may be rung on a given number of bells; any less number of changes would be called ‘a touch’. 1898 G. S. Tyack viii. 141 Five thousand changes..is the smallest number to which the name of a peal is technically allowed, less than that number merely constitutes a ‘touch’. 1907 16 Feb. 170/2 A select party from the ‘Ancient Society of College Youths’..rang a touch on the method known as ‘Treble Bob Maximus’. 1987 R. Harrison i. 9 We were just beginning a touch of Stedman Cinques. The dean was ringing the tenor. 2013 (Nexis) 19 Feb. At 11.30pm on New Year's Eve, eight bell ringers congregated at the church where they rang a touch of Grandsire triples on the half muffled bells. 14. Sport. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > scoring society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > parts of pitch 1845 W. D. Arnold et al. Football Rules of Rugby School in J. Reason & C. James (1979) i. 13 No goal may be kicked from Touch. 1857 T. Hughes i. v. 109 As soon as the ball gets past them, it's in touch, and out of play. 1880 20 Mar. 288/3 The Scotchmen kicked off, and the forwards getting on the ball kicked over touch. 1895 27 250/1 The ball is thrown out from touch by the side that carried it in, or by the opposite team to that which kicked it in. 1934 R. Lynd vii. 42 A perfectly judged long kick into touch. 1968 8 Aug. 189/6 Early in the first half Gibson, the British outside-half, kicked to touch. 2005 (Nexis) 14 Feb. 62 Kevin Keegan appeared to clash with Ferguson over his failure to retrieve a ball kicked into touch. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres 1863 26 Dec. 965/2 A run or free kick when caught, a place kick or bully for a touch behind goal-line. 1864 19 Nov. 354/2 When the ball is touched inside goal-line, must it be touched down dead? that is, is it fair touch if the ball move or roll afterwards? 1886 9 Oct. 535/2 An easy victory..by eight goals, three tries, and six touches to one goal. 1902 Jan. 20/2 1877 Classical won by 1 try and 4 touches to nil. 1898 Jan. 20 Golf requires the delicacy of touch and nicety of judgment incident to billiards. 1913 15 Mar. 397 There is no doubt that the fine delicacy of his touch which makes him so great at billiards is the quality that makes his putting great also. 1957 23 May 3/2 Drobny's touch lost its refined delicacy under ceaseless fire. 1999 R. Hartman iv. 147 Could Mickelson's touch around the green be similar to the precision sculptures of the great Florentine artist Michelangelo? 2009 (Nexis) 20 Apr. (Sport) 12 Once he is in around the pink and black, O'Sullivan's touch, control and shot selection tends to make the game look absurdly easy. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > other forms of football > [noun] society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > types of society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > type of 1936 Jan. 11/2 I'm going to play touch and learn some of those things I'll have to learn in order to be a good football player. 1981 3 May (Comics section) 4/3 Touch has the highest growth rate of any sport in Australia. 1993 Nov. 90/3 Take a patch of green awash in dewy Saturday morning sunlight, 14 enthusiastic players and a tough brown ball, and watch a pickup game of touch spring to life. 2007 (Nexis) 13 Sept. Suffering knee ligament damage playing touch in training. III. An object used to touch something else. †15. 1400 in M. T. Löfvenberg (1946) 54 (MED) Suffles, tampons, hamours, touches..gonne poudre. 1420–1 ( (P.R.O.: E 364/54) m. 4/1 dorso vj touches ferri pro Canon. iiijor Banershaftes j pompe. society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > touch-wood-paper society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > primer > priming-powder a1500 tr. A. Chartier (Rawl.) (1974) 47 (MED) Disordinaunces and iniquitees..be norischars of ambicione and envye, like as fattenesse norischith the fyre and oyle or touch the flambe. 1541–2 Act 33 Henry VIII c. 6 §1 in (1963) III. 832 Little handguns, ready furnished with..Gunpowder fyer & touche. 1619 H. Hutton sig. B2v Where's your Tobacco box, your steele & touch? a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV cclviii, in (1878) IV. 65 The fangle which Fires the drye touch of Constitution. 1887 D. Donaldson Suppl. Touch, touche, short for touch-wood, but applied to amadou and other materials used as tinder: ‘as sharp as touch’, as quick [to ‘fire up’] as touch-wood, quick-tempered. society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > starters 1659 J. Leak tr. I. de Caus 26 When the Barrel turns the pins Q and R, they may make the said conveiances open..according to..the disposition of the Pins and Touches [Fr. touches] Q and R. 17. Shipbuilding. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > lines, sections, or elevations society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > rear part of vessel > [noun] > angles of stern timber at counter society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > planking > a plank > projecting angle at broadest part 1711 W. Sutherland 25 When the Keel is put in order, 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. 1797 XVII. 392/1 On the pencil line set off the distance the touch of the lower counter is abaft the aft side of the wing transom. 1805 139 Touch,..Also the sudden angles of the stern-timbers at the counters, &c. 1850 J. Greenwood 128 This work is the best when the touch or knuckle is at the planksheer. 1955 C. N. Longridge i. 28 The two counters are not set in the same plane, but at an obtuse angle. The angle is called the ‘knuckle’ and that point of the knuckle which lies on the centre line is called the ‘touch’ of the counter. 1805 139 Touch, the broadest part of a plank worked top and butt, which place is six feet from the butt-end, or, the middle of a plank worked anchor-stock fashion. 1859 J. Peake Rudimentary Treat. Ship Building 41 in (ed. 2) It is usual to work what is called the touch..15 inches. 1987 P. Goodwin (2006) ii. 54/1 The width of the plank at the touch would be 13in, making the butts 7in wide. IV. Figurative senses. See also senses 3c, 5b.†18. the mind > attention and judgement > attention > attracting attention > [noun] > mention the mind > language > speech > [noun] > commenting or mentioning > comment or remark society > communication > information > hint or covert suggestion > [noun] c1400 (?c1390) (1940) l. 1301 Bot he had craued a cosse bi his courtaysye, Bi sum towch of summe tryfle at sum taleȝ ende. c1450 (c1400) Julian of Norwich (1978) 60 (MED) This was schewed me in a toch, and redely passed ouere into comforth. 1568 (a1500) Colkelbie Sow i. l. 475 in W. T. Ritchie (1930) IV. 296 First this pig so pure waiss and in so mony dengeris he eskapit with weris ȝe may consaue be this twich That oft of littill cumis mich To contempt a small fo. 1600 M. Sutcliffe vii. 169 He passeth this ouer without touch, and onely telleth vs [etc.]. 1628 E. Coke (1629) 289 Two ancient Records..whereof to my remembrance, I neuer read any touch in our Bookes. 1662 H. More Antidote against Atheism (ed. 3) ii. ii. 43 in (ed. 2) First I shall recurre, and give a touch upon the nature of Gravity. 1685 R. Baxter Mark xvi. 14 Mark doth but give us a brief touch of some of Christ's appearances, and leaves much, recorded by others. 1706 J. Logan in (1872) X. 120 I cannot think it becomes me when I write about thy business to give it by hints and touches. 1855 W. Arnot Let. in Mrs. A. Fleming (1877) vi. 295 I can on short warning give you a little touch, with a moral in it like the two papers I have sent you. the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [noun] 1612 F. Bacon (new ed.) 117 Speech of touch toward others, should bee sparingly vsed; for discourse ought to bee as a field, without comming home to any man. the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > spell or bout of action the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > [noun] > a trick, deception 1481 W. Caxton tr. (1970) 53 O what false touches [Du. treken] can he, how can he stuffe the sleue wyth flockes. 1530 J. Palsgrave iii. f. ccciiiv/1 It is no good felowes touche to stande monching in a cornar. 1533 J. Heywood sig. B.iii Yf thou playe me suche another touche Ish knocke the on the costarde. 1573 G. Gascoigne 376 Bleeue me now it is a friendly touch, To vse few words where frendship doth remaine. a1591 H. Smith (1593) iv. sig. I2v Mahomet..went, & first tooke part with the Romanes, but afterwardes serued them a slie touch, and forsooke them. 1598 T. Bastard iii. xviii. 63 Some will giue sixe pence for a witty touch, And some to see an Ape will giue as much. 1681 11 Oct. 2/2 We'l have a touch with him for it one of these days. 1720 H. Wanley 23 June (1966) I. 54 He will also have yet one more touch with His Grace for the said MS. 1791 J. O'Keeffe ii. ii. 28 I'll take a touch at the London theatre. 1833 H. Martineau VI. ii. i. 1 She might not only clean her husband's loom in peace, but have a touch at the old man's. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > sullying or staining of reputation > [noun] > a stain or slur 1508 Balade in (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dv To plese thame bath..Talk with that ane, and with the tothir rowne Be trew to both with out tuigh of tresoun. 1567 Queen Elizabeth I Let. to N. Throckmorton in W. Robertson (1759) II. App. 47 We..cannot but think them to have therein gone so far beyond the duty of subjects, as must needs remain to their perpetual touche for ever. 1588 Ld. Burghley 18 Reported to the dishonour of the Duke of Medina..and to a great touch to the Commaunders of the Spanish Nauie. 1616 Sir R. Dudley in S. R. Gardiner (1871) 16 That I have lived these nine yeares abroade, without all tutche of disloyalty. 1624 in W. Fraser (1867) 88 If he doe not carry my busines to my content, he thinkis it a tuicht to himself. 1679 in Bp. T. Barlow 107 Hold up thy head (Noble City) and advance thy self, for that never was thy Brow blotted with the least taint or touch, or suspicion of Disloyalty. 21. the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [noun] > a characteristic 1528 sig. h vii It is no Christen touche To se many a golden ouche With rynges and stones preciously. 1547 sig. P.iiv It is coumpted no synne at all, but rather a pastime, a dalliaunce, and but a touche of youghte, not rebuked, but winked at. 1605 B. Jonson i. i. 149 But he had other touches of late Romanes, That more did speake him: Pompei's dignity, The innocence of Cato, Cæsar's spirit. View more context for this quotation 1679 J. Goodman ii. i. 140 As if men had forgone all touches of humanity, and were become a kind of walking Ghosts. 1759 S. Johnson tr. P. Brumoy Diss. Greek Comedy in C. Lennox tr. P. Brumoy III. 156 Moliere has got hold on the principal touches of ridicule. 1856 R. W. Emerson v. 83 You shall trace these Gothic touches at school, at country fairs, at the hustings, and in parliament. 1897 H. Newbolt 30 But cared greatly to serve God and the king, And keep the Nelson touch. 1916 T. J. Burnett ii. 20 The persistent pressure of environment gives this young man the Oxford ‘touch’, that young lady the Girton ‘manner’. 1988 L. Dhingra xxiii. 128 The only Indian touch would appear to be the fresh marigold garlands on the portraits of the deceased family. 2015 (Nexis) 19 Aug. There are still the Corbyn touches—the unruly hair, and shirts in non-committal shades. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > a bodily skill > characteristic the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > do something unskilfully [verb (intransitive)] > not show one's usual skill 1893 5 Dec. 7/5 Peall appeared to have lost his touch for a time. 1927 9 July 60/1 But in the extended character-drawing of Ferdinand Banting and Tom Lord,..he seems to lose his touch. 1934 13 Jan. 4/5 He played the angles cleverly and showed a delicate touch when using the drop. 1955 P. Chayefsky Printer's Measure in 45 (stage direct. ) Dissolve to: Close-up of Mr. Healy's hands blocking in the composition into a frame, snapping the wooden furniture into place, tightening the quoynes, etc.—all done with a sure touch. 1979 26 Feb. 24/3 Davie Fulton..carved a 20-year reputation as a principled Red Tory who has a special touch for attracting bright political talent. 1992 W. T. MacCaffrey (1994) vi. 112 The once bold leader had clearly lost his touch. 1996 Dec. 192/2 If you want to know what Rupert Murdoch really thinks, then read The Sun and the New York Post.... He has a less certain touch for broadsheets. 2004 J. Fellowes (2005) xviii. 262 It was revealed as a charming and elegant nest, displaying Lady Uckfield's sure touch for gemüchtlich, fussy grandeur. 2011 (Nexis) 11 Dec. 40 He understands his own party and its instincts, but beyond that his touch is uncertain. 22. the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun] > that which > slight 1534 T. Elyot tr. St. Cyprian sig. B.viiv He wolde be free from the touche of al grefe and disease, and inioy this worlde prosperousely. c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xc. 8 in (1998) II. 135 Free From all touch of age and yeare. 1602 J. Marston iii. sig. E3v I will..strike her thoughts with The pleasing touch of my voice. 1780 E. Burke 25 That their ancient..castles, should moulder into decay, under the silent touches of time. 1799 30 490 The Cartesian hypothesis melted away under the touch of geometry. 1878 R. Browning 329 Death's kindly touch..gave Soul and body both release. 1883 H. James En Province in Nov. 638/2 Vineyards red with the touch of October. 1917 J. Conrad i. i. 42 All lightness of spirit and body having departed from me at the touch of officialdom. 2007 A. Malena in J. Adams et al. i. 49 Lousiana..offering glimpses of its complexity through the strident veneer of its sights, sounds, smells, and tastes, as well as the constant touch of history. c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme ciii. 58 in (1998) II. 156 And looke how much The neerly touching touch The father feeles towards his sonne most deare. 1608 G. Markham & L. Machin i. sig. B Who feele no touch in mine affections, Dare you to single combate. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. vii. 18 Didst thou but know the inly touch of Loue. View more context for this quotation 1690 C. Ness I. 210 If the Holy Spirit doth not touch us with his divine touches, the unclean spirit will with his deadly touches. 1866 B. Taylor Over Possession in 270 I wait the touch of song. 1869 H. F. Tozer II. 232 One occurrence, or idea, or touch of feeling, is selected, and..seldom treated at any great length. 1873 W. Black xii. 187 Some touch of compunction smote him. 1902 Dec. 351/1 It is sweeter, with the infinite sweetness of the touch of sadness, to be able to say ‘Once was’ than to have to confess that there never has been. a1998 T. Hughes tr. Aeschylus (1999) 70 You no longer see What you have done, no longer feel The touch of guilt, the hard clutch Of murder-guilt. the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > slight madness 1710 R. Steele No. 178. ⁋2 My Friend the Upholsterer, whose Crack towards Politicks I have heretofore mention'd. This Touch in the Brain of the British Subject is..owing to the reading News-Papers. 1902 W. B. Yeats c21 Apr. (1994) III. 177 ‘He looks like somebody that has got the touch’ is..tragic in Connacht. In Dublin it means somebody that is not right in the head. the mind > mental capacity > understanding > [noun] the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [noun] a1586 Sir P. Sidney (1591) 7 You take wrong wayes, those far-fet helps be such, As doe bewray a want of inward tutch. 1656 T. Stanley II. iv. facing p. They held that.., those things only can be perceived, which are felt by inward touch, as grief and pleasure. 1740 G. Turnbull I. i. iv. 117 Are all the pleasures or pains excited in or perceived by the mind, with relation to affections and sentiments, only pleasures and pains of mental touch or feeling, so to speak? 1872 H. P. Liddon v. 179 An accuracy and delicacy of intellectual touch. 1904 H. Black vii. 168 You will develop tact, which is just the faculty of touch, fineness of sensation. 2015 95 441 The spiritual senses of taste and touch signify more than just intimacy for Bonaventure. 24. the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a slight touch or trace 1597 W. Shakespeare iv. iv. 158 Madam I haue a touch of your condition, Which cannot brooke the accent of reproofe. View more context for this quotation 1643 J. Milton 21 Hath not even the Lord Chancellour a little touch of such a power? 1707 J. Norris vi. 282 The bashful and blushing speaker must have a touch of vanity in his constitution. 1782 Jan. 66 Gray..had a touch of this quality. A friend of Gray has had perhaps more than a touch of it. 1821 W. Scott I. vii. 171 She hath in her a touch of her father Henry. 1835 J. Lindley (1839) 477 Grey with a touch of red. 1885 A. M. Douglas xv. 235 There was a touch of light incredulity in his tone. 1920 D. H. Lawrence iv. 61 Miss Frost smiled with her old bright, wonderful look, that had a touch of queenliness in it. 1974 9 Mar. 29/4 A number of large mongrel dogs, many of them crosses of Newfoundlands and Labradors, with perhaps a touch of wolf. 2013 4 Apr. 48/1 There's perhaps a touch of self-parody in the job he sets his professor. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of > slight attack 1600 C. Sutton 343 Boast not of strength, some litle touch of sicknesse will make thee soone stoupe. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius 259 Monsieur Mandelslo was the onely person who had no touch of sicknesse all along our Travels [Fr. qui n'eut point d'atteinte de maladie]. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot i. 260 Every one threatned me with that Distemper, and yet..I never had the least touch of it. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ viii. 38 I have a touch of the gout in my knees. 1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose viii, in 3rd Ser. IV. 179 Curing me, in respect that I had got a touch of the wars in my retreat. 1829 J. S. Wyburn in 3 106 O! dear, O! dear, I'm sure I've got a touch of the allovers—O, O, O, I'm sure I shall faint, Mr. Dip! 1890 W. Besant ii He said he had had a touch of sore throat. 1919 Z. Fitzgerald (1991) 464 I wish I were a fine sweet person like you two and not somebody who has to go 200 miles because they have a touch of asthma. 1974 M. Butterworth ii. 26 They wouldn't take me 'cos I'd had a touch of TB. 2014 19 Dec. (Sport section) 11/1 This week I returned from our final regatta of 2014..with a touch of man flu. the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a very small amount 1786 R. Burns Twa Dogs xi, in 13 Ye maist wad think, a wee touch langer, An' they maun starve o' cauld and hunger. 1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in 1st Ser. II. viii. 205 Still this story..seems a touch even beyond Tom Hillary. 1868 E. A. Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens (1895) I. 405 I really think that the Great Unpaid are a touch more sensible. 1957 25 Nov. 10/3 Mr. Randolph Scott is certainly made of granite but there again strength and silence can be taken just a touch too far. 1973 J. Porter ii. 19 Maybe the poor chap was getting the smallest touch bored. 2014 (Nexis) 16 Jan. (Sports section) 4 At a touch over 6ft 4in, he is physically robust. society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > that which makes people spend specific amount 1703 1 Sept. Master Observator, Have you Read thorow that Three-penny touch of Slander and Calumny upon your Worship. 1720 E. Philipps Diary 22 Sept. in (1860) 2nd Ser. 10 Nov. 365/2 At night went to the Ball at the Angel. A Guinea Touch. 1790 21–24 Aug. The Author of this pamphlet, for it is only an eighteen-penny touch, [etc.]. 1815 W. Scott 2 Oct. (1933) IV. 101 I think..the poems of David [Hume] would make a decent twelve Shilling touch. 1886 5 Nov. 2/6 There is no fire provided in the penny ‘touch’ in which we now are. 1922 J. Joyce iii. 573 There was a dosshouse in Marlborough Street, Mrs Maloney's, but it was only a tanner touch and full of undesirables. 26. the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > [noun] > an instance or act of the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > picking pockets > [noun] > an act of 1821 105 Towards evening I got a touch at a cove's suck, and eased him of twenty-two quids and a lil. 1846 18 July 390/1 Ingenious Touch... Phillsburg..felt for his money, and..found in its place another pocket-book filled with newspaper instead of money. 1865 48/2 The most splendid ‘touch’ of the campaign was already in our grasp! 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ xliv A thousand ounces of gold was no foolish touch. 1900 13 Dec. 12/2 Returns of pocket-picking. He estimates twenty-five dollars a ‘touch’ as a fair record if there is much money in the crowd, and five or six touches a day as a good average. 1937 E. H. Sutherland i. 13 The mob had made a touch of a Spanish shawl, worth three or four hundred dollars. 1974 G. F. Newman 119 Wasn't a bad little touch. Radio, cassette and a briefcase. Thought maybe I'd get a couple of quid for the briefcase. 1990 in D. Campbell 15 We went straight out and did a burglary in Highgate. We had a right touch, about a couple of hundred quid a piece. the mind > possession > taking > extortion > [noun] > instance of society > trade and finance > financial dealings > borrowing money > [noun] > esp. via persuasion or glib talk 1896 G. Ade v. 43 Next day they had to make a hot touch for a short coin so as to get the price of a couple o' sinkers and a good old ‘draw one’. 1914 4 July 638/3 His story of not being able to find employment..has enabled him to make many a successful ‘touch’. 1933 Feb. 110/1 I should have put the touch on my friends, my relatives. 1940 J. O'Hara 77 You mean to say she did not put the touch on you. 1964 C. Chaplin xvii. 299 It seemed obvious from the tone of the letter that it was all leading up to a ‘touch’. So I thought I would take along $500. 1983 Nov. 54/1 They put the touch on Joe and when he refused to pay they blew up one of his taxis. 2010 M. Greenberg 89 I saw Jean-Paul frantically put the touch on the wealthy husband of a woman who had been promised a role in the film. society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > prices of stocks and shares > change or difference in price 1933 H. D. Berman ii. 11 Discreet inquiry might discover that one jobber calls them 33s. 9d.–34s. 3d., while a third jobber calls them 34s.–34s. 6d., so that the actual ‘touch’ would be 34s.–34s. 3d. 1986 23 Oct. 9/7 For alpha stocks, the touch is only 0.75 per cent, for gammas 3.37 per cent. 2005 18 611 In our sample, the average Touch is approximately 3 pence and the average price around 3.1 pounds sterling. Phrases P1. Phrases with verbs. the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > fail to observe [verb (intransitive)] society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > unfaithfulness > be unfaithful [verb (intransitive)] > break faith or promise 1594 4 If a shop-keeper lend mony..to his neighbour.., if he breake touch the shop-keeper may lawfully take so much as he sustained losse. 1725 J. Strype (ed. 2) II. i. xxxiii. 349 If they should break Touch with him, he would not only himself be ashamed, but also thereby even her Majesty in a Sort touched. the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [verb (intransitive)] the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > go away suddenly or hastily ?1515 (de Worde) sig. A.v A strype he gaue me I fledde my touche And frome my gyrdle he plucked my pouche. a1569 A. Kingsmill (1574) sig. D.iiijv He was faine to flee touch, and to auoyde from Bethleem into Egypt. 1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin xxvi. 153 They were vnconstant and fled touch anon after. a1626 L. Andrewes (1629) xii. 509 He onely was Propheta fugitivus, fled touch, was in the transgression; sent to Ninive and went to Ioppe. the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > observe, adhere, or keep a promise [verb (intransitive)] society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > be faithful or trustworthy [verb (intransitive)] > to a promise c1400 (?c1390) (1940) l. 1677 I schal..halde þe towcheȝ. 1552 R. Huloet Kepe tacke or holde touch, Iusta præbere. 1649 No. 4 sig. D1 Hold touch Levellers, the day of deliverance drawes neere. a1675 J. Lightfoot (1700) i. iii. 25 Till now Jacob had hardly held touch with God in the Performance of his Vow, The Lord shall be my God. †d. to keep touch. the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > observe, adhere, or keep a promise [verb (intransitive)] society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > be faithful or trustworthy [verb (intransitive)] > to a promise 1541 T. Elyot xxxix. f. 95v By kepynge his promise and touch. ?c1562 90 Amonge them that are riche No frendshyp is to kepe tuche. ?1567 M. Parker lxxviii. 219 They kept not..true tutch wyth God, hys pact they oueryed. 1612 in M. C. Questier (1998) 189 Hopinge thatt yow will remember mee when I am dedd I intende to keepe tuche with yow whiles I live. 1663 S. Butler i. i. 64 Quoth Hudibras, Thou offer'st much, But art not able to keep touch. 1666 Earl of Castlemaine 60 The report of not being able to keep touch with their Militia, has done them such discredit, that scarce any now voluntarily come to their Service. 1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde 47 To promise every body and keep touch with no body. 1825 C. Lamb in May 68 When the week came round, did the glittering phantom..keep touch with me? 1857 Aug. 251/2 The men keeping touch and step, and looking steadily on the faces of their foe. 1873 15 Aug. 3/2 The valley..being so difficult General Russell's Brigade in its retirement could not easily keep touch of the enemy's 1st Brigade. 1893 Apr. 217/1 The primary object of the Conference was to keep touch with other London Officers. 1912 (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 12 Dec. 632/1 All of them [sc. schools] have kept touch of their boys, or have definitely looked up the record. 1920 H. W. Richmond II. i. 9 All that night the frigates kept touch with the enemy and signalled their positions continually by firing guns. 1930 E. Raymond vii. 103 They filed forward to their night fatigue,..over the plateau under view of the Turks; their silence broken only by an occasional voice: ‘Keep touch..Put that light out!..Break step.’ 1946 P. Abrahams ix. 107 Paddy went to a phone that had been strung along to keep touch with the surface. 1991 R. Oliver (1993) vii. 77 Its literate élite..sufficiently mobile to keep touch with their opposite numbers in neighbouring communities. 1969 6 May (Industrial Eire section) p. ii As a result this issue has become a football to be kicked to touch.] 1972 (Gen. & Munic. Workers' Union) 268 The six quid was booted into touch, and the principles went with it. 1976 13 Oct. 10/6 While his power was uncontested he seemed to have kicked Mr Wang into touch. 1989 Sept. 87/1 The most believable relationship in the film..is kicked into touch by a dreadful scene. 2003 (Nexis) 6 Sept. 2 When it comes to the question of how to curb the supposed excessive power of trade unionism, self-regulation is punted into touch. 2010 R. D. Ronald v. 65 You hate being a mechanic... Wouldn't you like to be able to kick it into touch for good? f. to lose touch. 1884 15 May 369/2 He had never lost touch with his brethren. 1917 Mar. 15/3 I don't feel that I have lost touch of my former acquaintances over there. 1943 ‘C. Dickson’ i. 5 When bad weather put an end to my visits to the Wainrights', I lost touch with them. 1975 J. Bishop i. 26 Look Bobby, when you two busted up..well..we just naturally lost touch. 2009 V. Delany xxi. 189 Things got busy. And we lost touch. 1900 Apr. 121/2 The church has..lost touch with the great masses of humanity, and the masses have lost touch with the church. 1960 R. Davies i. 34 The public with which the intelligentsia has so unhappily lost touch is itself composed of intelligent humanists. 1978 4 Mar. 48/1 To insure that they never lose touch of changes within the club and within the industry as a whole, [etc.]. 1987 K. Lette (1989) 70 I promised not to lose touch with reality. 2010 1 Jan. 29/1 A hand-wringing report to the General Synod about how the Church was losing touch with young people. P2. Phrases with prepositions. a. in touch. Sometimes also into touch. Cf. out of touch adv.the world > space > distance > [phrase] > that may be reached > within range or reach 1854 S. T. Dobell v. 29 Tottering..In touch of the inestimable prize. 1904 Apr. 619/1 They got across the road and were almost in touch of the porch. 1935 18 Apr. 1/5 The dance pavilion almost in touch of the lapping waves of the bay. 1961 2 62 On March 1, 1896, the two armies came into touch. 2014 (Nexis) 13 Oct. The other side at the top of the league have also dropped points meaning Ilkley stay in touch at this moment in time. society > society and the community > social relations > [noun] > close relationship 1882 Aug. 194 All care is devoted to developing that part of the life which is in touch with the world outside. 1884 25 Jan. 4/2 Sir Henry Parkes has always kept himself in touch with English public opinion. 1887 A. Fleming in 29 Jan. 325 To bring religion into touch with conduct. 1901 4th Ser. 96 948 But they are not in touch..with all the best information which the Board of Admiralty have at their command. 1965 30 Jan. 4/3 (heading) Proctors keep dons ‘in touch’. 1992 28 Oct. 28/3 I did an interview where I said I was in touch with my feminine side. 2008 (Nexis) 22 Jan. 19 Clearly, the media is important in keeping judges in touch. 1916 W. S. Churchill Let. 20 Jan. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill (1999) vii. 157 I expect the Kat will be flustered by my directives to her to keep in touch with so many people. 1922 Oct. 221/1 In order to handle that situation the Cleveland Rotary Club got into touch with the existing agencies. 1937 D. Thomas 22 Feb. (1987) 357 Sorry not to have got in touch with you for so long. 1989 M. Moffatt ii. 42 Most seniors believed that they would stay in touch with their best college friends for years to come after graduation. 2003 (National ed.) 7 Sept. viii. 9/3 Nelson is still in touch with some of the men from his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division. the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > be versed or skilled [verb (intransitive)] > exercise or show one's skill > show one's customary skill 1964 24 July 12/2 Lawry was in great touch for Australia and hit two magnificent sixes off Price and Cartwright both over the head of the deep fine leg fieldsman. 1981 31 July 20/3 Willey, too, looked in good touch but did not survive long. 2004 (Nexis) 15 Jan. 57 Both teams have batsmen in good touch. 2011 (Nexis) 17 Feb. 86 Shoaib is not in touch at the moment. 1621 R. Brathwait 10 Smooth to the touch, and specious to the sight. 1791 Earl of Dundonald ii. 12 It [sc. potato powder] is extremely cold to the touch. 1823 7 306 She complained of severe pains in the head and abdomen, the latter being considerably tumefied and sore to the touch. 1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler (ed. 7) III. 456 Essential oils..are not greasy to the touch, like the fat oils. 1981 Nov. 71/1 The cakes are done when the tops are firm to the touch. 2014 21 May d3 The high heat..made my scalp feel inflamed and days later, it was painful to the touch. the world > space > distance > [phrase] > that may be reached > within range or reach 1753 T. Smollett I. xxxiv. 253 She..intreated him to draw near her bed-side, that he might be within touch, on any emergency. 1814 W. Dobson 105 Banging at a bird trodden up almost within touch of the dog's nose. 1858 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 3 Mar. in (1980) ii. 122 The rough-hewn roof was within touch. 1896 16 Dec. 5/3 [He] is not yet within touch of the telegraph. 1908 12 Oct. 408/1 We are now within touch of the reopening of Parliament. 1922 E. B. Brunner xiii. 214 When Monsieur Duflon paused he left our representative within touch of the celebrated emerald necklace of Mrs. Belknap. 1999 ‘Eurydice’ 142 Jaundiced women in Day-Glo G-strings and sequined paste-ons hover within touch. the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [adjective] society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > [adjective] the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > [adjective] 1590 E. Spenser i. iii. sig. Cv To thinke, how she through guyleful handeling, Though true as touch,..Is from her knight diuorced. 1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes li. 340 (heading) Of Sancho's proceeding in his Gouernment, with other successes, as good as Touch. a1670 J. Hacket (1693) i. 187 And that was sure as touch, because the House was to be past by Act of Parliament to the King's Majesty. 1823 W. Hazlitt in 10 Oct. She [sc. Vathek's mother] is true as touch. 1823 20 May What say you to a roaring bull, with a greasy butcher on horseback, driving him to slaughter. This would be beautiful indeed—square & compass no touch to it. 1838 T. C. Haliburton (1862) 2nd Ser. vi. 206 Our sea sarpant was no touch to it. 1864 Apr. 377/2 One of the funniest things happened here, in our great metropolis, a few days since. Oh! I wish you could have seen it! Barnum's humbuggery is no touch to it. P5. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > environmental disorders > [noun] > sunstroke or heatstroke 1867 24 Apr. 2/4 The prisoner said since the had been out in the East Indies and got a touch of the sun, a drop of drink took his senses away. 1891 R. Kipling End of Passage in 165 I judge no man this weather... He had a touch of the sun, I fancy. 1915 R. Brooke Apr. (1968) 680 When I had a touch of the sun, in Egypt. 2001 (Nexis) 16 Aug. 14 She had spent all weekend outdoors so we thought she had just got a touch of the sun. Compounds In some items included here touch may be interpreted as denoting the action of touching, e.g. touch foul, touchmark, touch screen, and the items alternatively viewed as compounds of touch v. C1. a. General attributive, with the sense ‘relating to or deriving from the sense of touch’ (cf. sense 8a). 1879 J. E. Walter i. iii. 107 The contrast between resisted and unresisted movement, matter and space, is not brought out as it is when the contact and touch feeling vary. 1884 B. Bosanquet et al. tr. H. Lotze iv. 507 (heading) How can Touch-feelings form a series? 2006 1 604 The cognition of vision and touch feelings contain no real experience in time and space. 1884 13 June 4/2 The true dealer's touch-knowledge of Oriental antiquities. 1921 J. L. Tayler vii. 56 It may be that when our skins became bare, and our powers of touch much greater, man came to rely on touch-knowledge more than sound-knowledge. 2015 I. Sykes iii. 69 Such a special kind of touch-knowledge relied on a memorization of pulse patterns. 1871 16 Dec. 540/2 If the visional and touch organs in such a child remain perfectly normal, deafness does not prevent the child from learning to write. 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka 251 The original touch-organ of the suckling is not the hand, but the mouth. 2004 77 8 We immobilized the crayfish's main touch organ, the antennae. a1618 J. Sylvester New-polished Spectacles in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas (1621) 1178 How soon doo Odours from thy Nostrils fly! How short, touch-Pleasures (tipt with Pain and Fear)! 1914 25 306 Touch-pain and touch-pleasure do not account for the agreeableness and disagreeableness of hunger and thirst, smell and taste. 2009 G. Thomas vii. 105 It almost goes without saying that touch pleasure is the driving force behind sexual enjoyment. 1865 S. H. Hodgson ii. 78 The only kind of cases where a combination of a whole series of touch-sensations into a solid whole is apparently possible is in grasping a small object. 1915 19 252 The miller may test flour, and the merchant determine the quality of silk, by touch sensations which the ordinary man could not discriminate. 2015 (Nexis) 1 Feb. b1 Our skin is studded with sensors that allow us to experience an exquisite range of touch sensations. 1878 22 Mar. 28/2 Judgment as to the intensity of a touch-stimulus takes place more uncertainly, and requires a longer time, than the localisation of the same. 1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley xii. 268 Most..of the group possess nerves, and at least scattered sense-organs for perceiving touch-stimuli. 2015 176 295/1 A touch stimulus near the apex of the tendril initializes..a growth in length. 1913 Oct. p. xii (advt.) The touch operated, ten-key Dalton is the fastest, simplest, surest, most adaptable calculating instrument ever made. 1949 16 June 6 (advt.) Planter and cultivator are touch-controlled and quickly interchangeable on a common mounting frame. 1969 35 546/1 A touch activated device creates a minimum of distraction for the user. 1981 81 1029/3 Features include a microcomputer control system, touch-activated controls,.., and a four-digit volume-to-be-infused setting. 2010 12 Apr. 21/8 Companies are snapping up hundreds of iPads, the touch-controlled tablets Apple released this month. C2. the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve cell > groups of 1853 Mar. 276 Touch-bodies had been looked for in the tongues of several of the Ruminantia, Rodentia, and Carnivora, but without success. 1884 18 186 Here one sees a circular or apparently globular body, in which one fibre appears to terminate, and it is at once described as a touch body. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1313 All over our skin, but more abundantly on strategic places like the finger-tips, there are touch bodies. the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > types of the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve cell > types of 1878 12 590 In the snout of the hog the ‘touch-cells’ are all in the epithelium. 1897 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell II. 100 Touch-corpuscles are formed of an ovoidal mass of connective tissue containing a ramified nerve, the terminal branches of which end in touch-cells. 1971 23 July 269/2 In one pair of touch cells..a depolarizing or a hyperpolarizing synaptic potential was observed when the anterior or the posterior cell was stimulated. 2007 D. Bazopoulou et al. in D. H. Wang i. 7 Animals that lack functional touch cells are lethargic. the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve cell > groups of 1856 31 191 The class of structures to which the touch-corpuscles and Pacinian bodies belong. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. VI. 641 A trophic centre in a touch corpuscle. 1945 3 Mar. 301/2 The various forms of touch corpuscles allowed of discriminative sensations which had a higher threshold than that of naked endings. 2000 40 564/1 There are more touch corpuscles in the skin of birds than in that of mammals. 1937 28 Apr. 10/1 (advt.) Get Murphy Da-Cote Enamel here... Touch-dry in 1 hour. 1963 24 Jan. 10/8 Each coat is touch-dry in two hours at normal temperatures. 2002 S. Stacey & J. Fairley 150/2 When nails are touch-dry, apply a drop of cuticle oil..to the cuticle area, and lightly rub in over the nail surface. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > types of kick or ball society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > types of player 1898 9 Apr. 4/5 Wilkinson, however, came to his side's assistance with a touch-finder. 1960 30 Nov. 3/6 The small, durable halves were dedicated touch-finders. 1999 15 Oct. 36/2 A touch-finder by Bachop led to their first try. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [adjective] > types of player 1895 12 Feb. 7/7 His beautiful touch-finding returns excited unstinted admiration. 1900 5 Nov. 6/4 Half backs and forwards alike were frustrated in their efforts to gain the few feet required, and eventually touch-finding secured relief from Bramley. 1976 14 Oct. 46/1 It was a very solid display of good catching, good touch-finding and some probing entries into the line. 2012 (Nexis) 18 Jan. 53 Ayr continued to push County back in their own 22 with a succession of touch-finding penalties. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > type of 1913 11 Nov. The first team of Walnut school and the first team of the Normal Model School will play a game of ‘touch’ football. 1947 17 July 11/5 Each day they..finished up with fast running in a game of ‘touch football’. 2013 (Nexis) 26 Sept. c12 Why not get a bunch of friends, go to the park and play touch football? 2015 M. Barnett 245 Col was playing in a game of touch football and his ball-handling skills drew favourable comments. 1979 18 Mar. 15 a/4 They are going to call every touch foul they can. 1996 M. D. Myers xix. 242 The ref wasn't calling touch fouls. 2009 23 Nov. b4/3 The touch fouls the officials were calling made it harder for the team to play the physical defense that got them back into the game. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > linesman 1889 17 Sept. 3/5 Touch judges..can only be appointed with the consent of the captains or secretaries of the contending clubs. 1968 29 Apr. 14/1 In a move believed unparalleled in rugby union, a touch judge was sent off the field yesterday after he allegedly struck a player. 2005 J. H. Kerr ii. 24 The foul play was unseen by referee and touch judges. society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun] > on pewter 1792 Mar. 235/2 On Wednesday, was offered at Goldsmiths-hall, to receive the standard or touch marks, an excellent piece of workmanship. 1904 H. J. L. J. Massé xiv. 190 The touch-marks usually were the initials of the maker of the pewter, and various other devices such as the Company's quality mark. 1959 L. Gross viii. 103 Some, but not all, pewter will be found with a touch-mark. 2014 J. R. Hannibal (2015) xx. 123 He saw a blacksmith's touchmark etched into the hilt in Latin letters—the initials AA. 1891 D. McKillop v. 80 The student will be one of the minority operators who have acquired the valuable touch method. 1929 8 445/2 The simple hunt-and-hit method of typewriting with one finger of each hand, compared to the touch method using all fingers. 2002 J. M. Mũngai v. 131 I graduated with a typing speed of 30 words per minute using the ten-finger touch method. society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > equipment for testing quality of metal a1632 T. Dekker (1636) ii. i. sig. C4v I finde it, for being loyall, As the touch-needle to one starre still turning. 1683 J. Pettus tr. L. Ercker i. xxiv. 63 in i The silver Touch-Needles [Ger. Streichnadeln] (which are also called Proof-Needles). 1763 W. Lewis 124 Accustoming himself to compare the colours of a good set of Touch needles. 1884 F. J. Britten (new ed.) 266 Touch needles are small bars of gold, one each of all the different standards likely to be tested. 1991 J. Blair & N. Ramsay vi. 113 The colour of the resulting mark on the touchstone was compared with marks produced on the same stone by alloys of known composition, in the form of touch-needles. society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > control devices > tablet 1974 28 Aug. 5/2 Manual inputs and commands are entered with a touchpad. 2005 C. Mendelson i. iii. 40 New washing machines often have touchpad control panels that would not look out of place in the cockpit of a Boeing 757. 2012 1 Nov. 46/1 The touchpad on my laptop broke many moons ago. society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > lock > priming-pan 1599 J. Minsheu 60/2 Casoléta, the touch pan in a piece. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas i. vii. 232 Downe falls the Cock, vp from the Touch-pan flies A ruddie flash. 1845 G. M. Fessenden 35 (note) To fire the piece [sc. a matchlock], the pan called the ‘touch pan’ was previously opened, and on springing the match, its lighted end would be brought into contact with the powder in the pan. 2005 E. G. Lengel x. 187 Two German artillery pieces..became inoperable because of burnt-out touch pans. society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > [noun] > control panel or unit 1957 9 Dec. 22 The most beautiful TV of all..! Touch-panel tuning. 1981 J. B. Adams in J. H. Mulvey vii. 156 The operator..can send instructions to any component of the machine by means of a touch panel, which identifies the component, and one knob, which determines the required action. 2006 D. Angsten (2007) 228 Eva hurriedly hunted through the galley, opening appliance doors and pressing inoperative touch-panels. 1897 2 787/2 (heading) On ‘touch paralysis’, or the inability to recognise the nature of objects by tactile impressions. 1921 C. L. Allen tr. R. Bing xix. 295 The inability to recognize objects by touch when the eyes are closed..[has] been called ‘touch paralysis’. 1980 19 Aug. 3 Wilson, showing..an ability to throw the ‘touch’ pass, so essential in pro-football.., threw a TD pass to Terry Robiski with nine seconds left on the clock. 1983 D. Sperling Gloss. 89 Touch pass. A quickly executed pass in which the recipient of a preceding pass taps or bats the ball with his hands to a teammate without first catching the ball. 2007 (National ed.) 5 Jan. c15/5 Russell..dissected Notre Dame's outmanned defense with laser-like bombs and pinpoint touch passes to wide-open receivers. 2015 (Nexis) 15 Mar. (Sports section) 1 Gasol fired a touch pass out to E'Twaun Moore, who nailed a game-winning 3-pointer. 1962 E. L. Burdick & J. H. Wheeler Fail Safe in 27 Oct. 38/2 The light on the touch phone went on. 1987 29 June (Business section) 18/1 Trying to press various buttons on my rotary-dial handset. We don't yet have the sophisticated services of touch-phones out here in the country. 1998 Autumn 16 The Sorgenti touchphone combines the features of a phone, fax and email terminal. 2011 6 June r4/4 We all love interacting with apps on our touch phones, on small screens. society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > other specific parts society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun] > on pewter 1508 in J. B. Paul (1902) IV. 122 For vernesing of ane lang culveryn and gilting of the end of it and the twich plaith. 1892 25 Mar. 875/1 The exhibitions at Haberdashers' and Skinners' Halls..to which the Pewterers' Company lent their ‘touch-plates’. 1902 C. Welch I. Introd. 1 The..inventories of the Company's goods show that touch-plates existed at an early date. 2003 J. D. Davis 3/2 Qualified pewterers were required to register their touchmarks on touch plates at Pewterers' Hall. 1954 29 June 3/1 The Seixas v. Patty match was what one would expect, with Patty, the artist and touch player coming to the net whenever possible. 1970 26 Oct. 12/6 He is an intelligent, experienced touch player. 1983 12 Apr. b9/4 He's a long hitter and a very good touch player. 1990 22 July (Sunday Review) 8/8 The billiard revivalists in India..plan new promotions so that our touch players..can hold their own in the top company. 2013 K. Heathcote 165 I hated going on court with touch players. the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > material > [noun] > culture or medium 1908 G. H. Hart 19 The touch preparation method of Frothingham is much more rapid than the preceding, but is not quite as reliable. 1956 7 Jan. 47/1 Touch-preparations of spleen and lung on slides were fixed in 95 per cent ethanol at 37°C. for 30 min. 2011 108 1444/2 Probes were hybridized to frozen tumor touch preparations. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > types of 1926 28 Oct. 18/1 (headline) Midget teams to play touch rugby. 1977 14 Dec. 9/7 Both [games] entail constant running, both in defence and attack, especially touch rugby. 2015 23 Feb. 11/3 Touch rugby should be encouraged as an alternative to full contact. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > types of 1942 C. Milburn 16 Dec. (1979) 161 He talks of hockey, soccer and touch-rugger, describing the latter game. 1962 30 Dec. 12/6 Some over-zealous captains try to improve the shining hour by arranging training or games of touch rugger. 2013 E. Metaxas iii. 60 Outside the classroom, they played touch rugger. society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > monitor > interactive 1974 3 70/1 As a first step, a prototype touch screen was designed and constructed in our Laboratory by Mr. Stephen Salter. 1983 Aug. 60/2 The touch-screen and light-pen both have the limitation that the user must first identify the location that has to be touched, and then a physical movement has to be made... Also, touch screens do get finger-marked. 2013 9 Aug. 14/2 The chain also expected to sell two touch-screen tablets to every one laptop. 2015 P. Weverka i. 15 Windows 10 can display a virtual keyboard onscreen. This feature is vital for devices that have a touchscreen and no physical keyboard. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [noun] > types of stroke 1936 11 Jan. 10/7 None of his shots were touch shots and only one was a combination. 1959 30 June 3/3 Some delicate touch shots, cross-court and half-court—the dink as the Americans call it. 1969 J. Nicklaus & H. W. Wind xi. 160 I played one of the best touch shots of my life, a little low pitch into the bank with my 7-iron. 2003 June 55/1 Anne found it ‘easy to swing on serve, but touch shots were more difficult’. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > [noun] > part sensitive to touch the world > life > the body > part of body > [noun] > surface > sensitive points on 1897 17 June 751/2 On the fingers we have touch spots—hot spots and cold spots. 1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley v. 122 The fineness of discrimination for touch depends mainly on the closeness of touch-spots. 2012 F. Cervero iii. 38 We have cold spots, warmth spots, touch spots, and pain spots—a multitude of various kinds of spots surrounded by areas of skin devoid of sensitivity. society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > fuse 1809 T. Forster Let. 27 Oct. in (1810) Jan. 554/1 The touch-string being lighted, the balloon was launched into the air. 1842 2 11 November... Crackers..contrived to explode at any period..by attaching graduated pieces of touchstring to them. 1914 Royal Comm. Metallif. Mines & Quarries: Minutes of Evid. III. 106/1 in (Cd. 7478) XLII. 575 There are some touch strings soaked in saltpetre to carry the fire along to the fuse. 1894 Sept. 12/1 Mr. A. M. Hopkins..has carried on an interesting discussion.., in regard to the advisability of learning the ‘touch’ system of typewriting. 1921 E. Hemingway 20 May (2011) I. 286 Scuse the rotten typage..—that's on account of me typing by the touch system—just learned it recently and it's faster but more inaccurate. 1994 H. Zinn xiii. 170 A rebuilt Underwood typewriter..came with a practice book for learning the touch system, and soon I was typing book reviews for everything. society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > control devices > tablet society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > [noun] > control devices > paddle 1976 25 311/1 Some of the more creative toys presented are those designed to develop sensorial awareness, (i.e.), basic, thermal, and touch tablets. 1979 22 Oct. 62/2 A detachable keyboard that incorporates a finger-operated touch tablet. 1984 13 Dec. 38/1 Macy's had a large display of touch-tablets like the British Touchmaster pad. 2014 K. Hinckley et al. in T. Gonzalez et al. (ed. 3) xxi. 16 Although touch tablets still exist, they are far outnumbered today by touch screens whose input and output surfaces are collocated. 1847 24 55 Dawson..was busy teaching a group of children in the corridor to play at touch-tag, or, as he denominated it in his alien vernacular, Tig. 1988 M. Atwood (1989) xxvii. 145 Our father plays touch-tag with us on the beach. 2015 (Nexis) 10 Dec. a 24 [An] elementary school..has told its students they can't play touch tag or other activities that involve contact on the playground. 1961 4 July 2/2 The Indian's [sc. Ramanathan Krishnan's] delightful ‘touch’ tennis..thrilled the crowds. 1992 (Nexis) 20 Jan. 42 An aging, balding American who plays an old-fashioned style of touch tennis. 2016 (Nexis) 15 May It was classic touch tennis and those patrons who stuck it out..appreciated an exhibition of sublime skill. 1960 in M. E. Ingram (ed. 5) ii. 41 The second therapy I shall refer to here is the touch therapy. When you report for work and go on your ward..the patients will want to shake hands with you. 1985 85 1262/2 Other patients may find comfort in positive thinking, meditation exercises, touch therapy, or a special diet. Whether these methods have a scientific basis or whether the nurse agrees with the patient's beliefs is not important, provided there is no medical contraindication. 1997 B. Rowlands 8 Elderly people and those with mental and physical disabilities can gain a sense of peace and calm through touch therapies, such as reiki or reflexology, while taking their medication. 2010 (National ed.) 16 Feb. a6/3 Some have carried out what they call touch therapy, in which they say they realign patients' nervous systems by touching them through their clothes. 1892 4 27 Miss Alice Shreiner, of Boston, gave an interesting demonstration of touch typewriting, using a Remington typewriter with a blank keyboard. 1954 29 173/2 Touch typewriting is such a skill. 2010 S. Eze 188 He told my father that, while I lived with him, he would send me to a commercial school, where I would learn touch typewriting and bookkeeping. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > metalworker > [noun] > assayer 1644 J. Bulwer 172 The grape of the Index [finger]..is..chiefe Touch-warden to the King of the five senses. 1677 W. Badcock 30 The Wardens that are to make the Assays and mark the Silver, are now called the Touch-Wardens. 1864 Dec. 75 One of their chief officers was their Touch-Warden, he who assayed gold by the touchstone. 2002 M. Mulvihill i. 56/1 In charge is the assay master or ‘touch warden’, a title that derives from the days when gold was tested by rubbing it on a touchstone of basaltic rock. the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [noun] > particular types of watch 1860 Oct. 287/2 A touch-watch, by which the time of day may be felt. 1904 5 Nov. 773/2 A touch-watch on which the hours, being indicated by projecting studs, could be told by the blind. 2015 (Nexis) 26 Mar. d2 The earliest ‘touch watches’ to survive date from the early 16th century. These had open faces, allowing the wearer to judge the single hour hand's position against raised indices, or touch-pins. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > [noun] > instruments used in experiments on 1878 26 Apr. 159/2 It must be borne in mind that all the Claviers are not at all times under precisely the same rules as regards Touch-weight. 1895 E. W. Scripture viii. 104 (caption) Touch-weights for Finding the Threshold. 1912 23 585 The silk threads of the touch-weights should be fixed by sealing-wax to the ends of matches; the use of the bare silk is inconvenient. 2008 M. C. Flinn & J. B. Flinn xvi. 223 We are both pretty well experienced in evaluating touch on both digital and acoustic pianos, and the differences in touch-weight across the keyboard are nearly imperceptible to us. society > communication > printing > typing > typist > [noun] > touch 1899 11 June Several contests have been held recently in the typewriting department, one object in view being to test the work of the touch-writers, as compared with the work of regular operators. 1915 21 Aug. Advt. p. i Great numbers were so-called touch-writers—yet there has hardly been a single one who hasn't doubled or trebled his or her speed and accuracy. 1931 8 Feb. xi. 7/1 (advt.) Secretary-stenographer, middle-aged, fast touch writer, speaks, writes German-French. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). touchv.Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French toucher. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French tocher, tochier, tucher, tuchier, Anglo-Norman and Middle French toucher, Middle French touchier (French toucher) to make contact with (something) using an instrument (c1100), to place part of the body in contact with (something) (early 12th cent.), to discuss or mention (a subject) (first half of the 12th cent.), to have sexual intercourse with (a person, especially a woman) (c1145), (of an inanimate object) to be in contact with (another object) (c1150), to affect, influence (a person, a person's mind or heart, a situation, etc.) (c1160), to lay hands on (a person) in order to cure the king's evil (c1170 or earlier), to stir the feelings or emotions of (a person) (c1170 or earlier in Anglo-Norman, mid 15th cent. in continental French), to test the fineness of (gold or silver) (late 12th cent.), to draw close to or reach (a place, a goal) (late 12th cent.), to play (a musical instrument) (c1200), to relate to (something), to have a bearing on (something) (c1270), to handle, eat, or drink (food or drink) (beginning of the 14th cent. or earlier), (of a projectile) to hit (a person) (1547) < an imitative base seen also in Middle French, French toquer to strike, to hit (end of the 15th cent.), and in Old Occitan tocar (12th cent.), Catalan tocar (12th cent.), Spanish tocar (end of the 12th cent.), Portuguese tocar (13th cent.), Italian toccare (first half of the 13th cent.), all in a similar range of senses.Specific senses. With sense 1b(b) compare French toucher , reflexive (1665 in this sense). With sense 5a compare Spanish tocar (c1200 in this sense), the usual word for ‘to play (a musical instrument)’ in Spanish. In sense 10 after French toucher (early 16th cent. in Middle French in this sense). With sense 17a compare similar use of classical Latin tangere to touch (see tangent adj.). With sense 22 compare the corresponding use of French toucher (1311 in Old French in an isolated attestation, subsequently from late 16th cent., in this sense). Form history. In Middle English prefixed and unprefixed forms of the past participle are attested (see y- prefix). With Middle English forms with final -i compare -y suffix2. Some Middle English, early modern English, and Older Scots forms in tw- (compare e.g. tweche, twiche, twitch at β. forms) appear to show the development of a labiovelar semivowel, frequently with concomitant fronting (and raising) of the stem vowel; for the reverse development perhaps compare couch n.2 I. To make contact with, and related senses in which physical contact is the dominant idea. 1. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touch [verb (transitive)] c1300 (Harl. 2277) (1845) 2112 And ho miȝte him enes tuochi, he was glad ynouȝ. a1325 (c1280) (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1892 (MED) ‘Ne touche me nouȝt,’ quaþ Ihesu. a1382 (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xiii. 1 Who shal touche pich, shal be defoulid of it. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 24498 Þat i moght toche him hand and fote. 1491 in C. Innes (1845) I. 328 Þe parteis..ar oblist..be þe haly ewangell tuechet befor þir vytnes. a1555 D. Lindsay Dreme sig. F.viv, in (1559) All that he twychit, but delatioun Turnit in gold. 1599 J. Davies 41 And in those fiue All things their Formes expresse, Which we can touch, tast, feele, or heare, or see. a1657 W. Mure in (1898) I. 26 Hands, forbeare to tuich Oght ȝor tuiching can bewitch! 1764 T. Reid v. vi. 127 My two hands touch the extremities of a body. 1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange I. 22 When I touch a warm body, the caloric passes from the body into my hand. 1844 A. W. Kinglake xvi. 237 With tremulous boldness she touches—then grasps your hand. 1901 28 1047/2 The house children got a step-ladder, and peeped into the nest, but did not touch the birds. 1979 C. P. Snow i. ix. 85 Humphrey said that he had touched nothing, except the telephone. 2007 A. Theroux xlvii. 770 He touched her arm. b. In euphemistic use with reference to sexual acts. the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. vii. 1 It is good to a man for to touche not a womman [L. mulierem non tangere]. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 11139 Als quen he fand wit barn his wijf, þat he neuer had toched till. a1400 (a1325) (Gött.) l. 10877 Þe womman þat neuer touchid man, How sal scho conceyue? tel me þan. ?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 99, in (at cited word) (MED) He moste kepe him wele þat he haue to do wiþ no womman fleischlie..ne touche hem not, neiþer felawschipe not wiþ hem. a1547 R. Copland tr. (?c1560) xi. sig. E.ii Your noble person hath touched often [t]imes to hers after ye constitucion of the sacrament of mariage. 1553 T. Paynell tr. St. Augustine ix. sig. H.iiijv Doe thy busynesse, and the kynges commaundemente, inforce the for so many dayes not once to touche thy wyfe. ?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron iii. xii. 455 A man must touch his wife discretlie and for honestie. 1685 tr. G. Leti 67 It is certainly reported, that except his wife, he never touch'd any other woman but the Countess. 1736 (ed. 2) III. 112/1 Octavius..might be at liberty to send her [sc. his wife] away, and to affirm, upon oath, that he had not touched her. 1762 T. Bridges (1772) 361 May I for cats and dogs turn butcher, If ever yet she'd let me touch her. 1820 93 458 When he found no odour of the musk and rose-water which Seudabeh employed, he concluded that the youth had not touched her, and acquitted him. 1842 J. Williams tr. Homer Iliad xix, in I. 369 Let him arise, and, in the midst of the Argives, swear that he has not touched Briseis unchastely, after the fashion of men and women. 1917 4 172 Stella had threatened to tell her mother that she had been ‘touched’ by her father. 1969 11 Dec. 8 a/3 She said he touched her at her home while her mother was away for a short time. 2010 (Nexis) 28 Aug. a6 Brookville man, 81, accused of touching children. the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > masturbation > masturbate [verb (reflexive)] the mind > emotion > love > action of caressing > caress [verb (transitive)] > caress in order to excite sexually 1892 12 Mar. 293/1 He would never again have an idea of touching himself either by day or during sleep at night. 1927 F. Harris (1934) IV. ix. 182 You want to know if I have touched myself. Sure, all girls have. 1973 July 114/1 Little girls are told not to touch or play with themselves, and later their sexual parts are associated with urination and menstruation, which are considered ‘dirty’. 2006 C. N. Adichie (2007) i. 9 They—her breasts—were the images saved for last on the many nights when he touched himself, slowly at first and then vigorously. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxviii. 222 Þe hond is a..principal instrument of touchinge..for no partie of þe body douchiþ_[read touchiþ] & gropiþ so sikerliche as þe hond. a1425 (c1395) (Royal) (1850) Isa. lix. 10 We as with outen iȝen touchiden [L. adtrectavimus]. 1597 J. Dowland sig. Iv Sweet loue doth now enuite, thy graces that refraine, to do me due delight, to see, to heare, to touch, to kisse, to die, with thee againe in sweetest simphathy. 1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso ii. i. 19 Ismen dead bones laid in cold graues that warmes And makes them speake, smell, taste, touch, see and heere. 1658 I. Ambrose iv. iv. i. 727 Others think that Mary was forbidden to touch, because of her unbelief. a1791 F. Hopkinson (1792) III. 5 Neatly trip the merry dance, And lightly touch and swiftly glance. 1873 new ser. 2 230/1 Thou knowest how we want to hear, and touch, and see. 1913 E. P. Culverwell v. 130 It is sometimes difficult to teach children to touch gently. 1969 H. Thesen vii. 98 Many other strange faces had come to look and strange hands to touch gently. 1977 D. Hill (transcription of song) Sometimes when we touch The honesty's too much And I have to close my eyes and hide. 2008 C. Miles i. 15 She longed to cuddle him in her arms and reassure him, but she'd promised not to touch. the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > examination > examine medically [verb (transitive)] > by touch a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxiii. 124 Þe puls is..iclepid strong..whanne it semeþ þat..he puttiþ away þe fingir þat touchiþ it. a1500 tr. Lanfranc (Wellcome) f. 25v (MED) Þe tokyns of hem bene thesse: Rednes..and swellyng..and prekyng hete, and bytyng the hond that touchith it. 1583 A. Marten tr. P. M. Vermigli i. v. 33/1 Euen they themselues (as Hippocrates and Galen report) doo verie diligentlie examine their patients touching them. 1591 H. Savile Annot. vpon Tacitus 2 in tr. Tacitus The phisicians daily resorted vnto him to touch his pulse. 1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière xv. ii. 404 If a wise Midwife touch the inward Mouth of the Womb, it will not be so close shut as in women with Child, but rather hard, and contracted, and full of pain. 1734 E. Hody lxxxi. 192 I thought it proper to touch her. a1763 W. Smellie (1764) III. 424 Upon touching I found the Os Uteri a little more dilated. society > law > legislation > make (laws) or establish as law [verb (transitive)] > touch with sceptre in royal assent a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1960) xii. vi. 10 The payce and concord now is twichit and sworn. 1694 in (1759) I. 625 This act was not touched, and so the Lords thought they could not supply the royal assent, nor make it an act. 1700 31 Oct. An Act for Adjourning the Session was read again this Day Voted Approven, and Touched; And in the usual Manner Proclaimed. 1855 T. B. Macaulay IV. xviii. 186 He [sc. William III] had..suffered the law which abolished patronage to be touched with his sceptre. 1907 A. Lang IV. ii. 29 He was to ‘touch’ and pass the Acts of 1689 for restoring Presbyterian preachers. the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > non-scientific treatments > treat non-scientifically [verb (intransitive)] > touch for king's evil the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > non-scientific treatments > treat non-scientifically [verb (transitive)] > touch for king's evil a1684 J. Evelyn anno 1660 (1955) III. 250 His Majestie began first to Touch for the Evil according to costome. 1705 No. 4126/3 All Persons who shall..apply to be Touched, shall bring a Certificate. 1716 T. Hearne (1901) V. 359 He said the King touched many for ye Evil..and that they recovered. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1712 I. 12 His mother..carried him to London, where he was actually touched by Queen Anne. 1880 W. H. Dixon (ed. 3) IV. xxxi. 298 The King began to touch for scrofula. 1997 R. Porter x. 282 At his coronation in 1722, Louis XV touched more than 2000 scrofula victims. 2. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > be in contact with > bring into contact with c1300 St. James Great (Laud) l. 36 in C. Horstmann (1887) 34 Seint Ieme him sende a luyte cloth þat he with him ber, Þat he touchede him þare-with. a1400 (a1325) (Fairf. 14) l. 20759 Ga to þa men..& touche ham he saide wiþ hit. a1480 (c1450) (Peterhouse) (1986) 108 (MED) It is impossible to tuche heuene wiþ þyn hondis or to make þe see drye. a1550 (c1477) T. Norton (Sloane 1873) (1975) l. 2880 (MED) A nothir fornace in picture be shall..wherof bolde men had dowte To tuych with handis a pore lynyne clowte Which in ye myddill therof vnbrennyde stode, For drede of flammys brennyng ferce of wode. 1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara ii. iii. f. 84v/1 They set together their knees, then they touched wyth their handes. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. v. 83 With Triall-fire touch me his finger end. View more context for this quotation 1643 J. Caryl ii. 8 A man would scarce touch such an one with a pair of Tongs. 1667 J. Milton iv. 812 Him thus intent Ithuriel with his Spear Touch'd lightly. View more context for this quotation 1682 G. Hartman ii. 232 Dip a Straw or Feather in it, and touch all round about the borders of the Sore with it. 1712 A. Pope Messiah in No. 347 O Thou my Voice inspire Who touch'd Isaiah's hallow'd Lips with Fire. 1760 J. Hawkins in 144 There is great difficulty in getting into one of those Truckles; for the instant you touch it with your foot, it flies from you. 1839 A. Ure 582 (Glass-making) The..workman..touching its tubular neck with an iron chisel dipped in cold water. 1844 A. W. Kinglake xviii. 291 She has touched the poor Levantine with the hem of her sleeve! 1924 L. Woolf Two Brahmans in (1963) 282 The fisher knew at once that he was a Brahman and salaamed, touching the ground with his forehead. 2013 L. M. Altom x. 42 She clenched her hands, praying he at least touched the ball with his bat. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > place near > place in contact a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 21549 Þe thred [sc. third cross] þai toched til his hide, And up he ras wit-vten bide. ?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 777 in N. Davis (1970) 82 And towche thyn hand to thy saluacion. 1770 H. Brooke (Dublin ed.) V. xvii. 310 Touching his left Hand to the Shoulder of his Horse, he rose perpendicular..and again descended on his Seat. 1897 30 378/2 Touch a match to it, and you will presently have a fire. 1960 24 Jan. 5/4 He touches the wires to the terminals of an ordinary torch battery. 2005 L. Kelly x. 193 She lifted her glass again, touching it to her cheek. 1625 tr. G. de la Vega in S. Purchas IV. vii. iv. 1480 This holding of hands in a ring gaue occasion to make the golden Chaine, that they might dance by it without touching hands. 1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc iii. xii. 381 They never kisse nor touch hands, and use all respect to their women. 1715 M. Prior 173 Now let us touch thumbs, and be friends ere we part. 1761 J. Armstrong 18 There lively, genial, friendly, Goy and I, Touch Glasses oft. 1840 Dec. 291/2 Come, gentlemen, let us touch glasses. 1843 E. Dieffenbach II. 109 After the first salutation, by touching noses, they do not remain standing upright, but squat down on their heels. 1917 June 44/3 Shorty don't savvy this courtesy thing of touching foils, so when the Spaniard steps out toward him to touch swords Shorty walks up close and spears him right though the shoulder quick. 2005 Z. Smith 179 Levi walked through these and touched fists with Marlon and Big James in security. 3. the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > strike with specific degree of force [verb (transitive)] > strike lightly c1330 (Auch.) (1882) 756 Wiþ þat word þe kinges a non Touchede here stedes & made hem gon. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) l. 1195 (MED) Alisaundre..on Bulcyfal lepe, And touched hym myd þe spore. ?1550 R. Weaver sig. D.iiiv If thou tel not truth, I wil not be behind, To touch you as wel agayne. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1895) II. 181 As a noble horss tuechte with the spur is mair quik. 1779 J. Dew Treat. Billiards in 265 If the Striker should touch two Balls with his Mace or Cue, it is deemed a foul Stroke. 1831 W. Scott Count Robert iii, in 4th Ser. I. 74 Achilles..touched the door with a rap, distinct at once and modest. 1850 9 June 12/3 By one of those little mishaps, characteristic of cricket, he so touched the ball that it found its way into the hands of the wicket keeper. 1860 Jan. 33/2 If the off ox is not inclined to gee, touch him with the whip, on the left shoulder. 1914 M. M. Crawford in A. E. Wardrop ix. 152 A polo whip..is sometimes useful..if he [sc. a horse] shows temper and jibs when touched with the spur. 1977 26 Apr. 10/3 His header found Stapleton, who in turn touched it back to Armstrong. 2015 (Nexis) 21 Oct. Mathias touched it forward and Gradwell somehow weaved a shot through the mass of bodies that gathered in front of the net. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fence [verb (transitive)] > actions 1622 J. Reynolds viii. 113 His Rapier hath once touched Poligny's body, or which is lesse, his clothes. 1691 W. Hope Art Def. & Pursuit with Small-Sword 4 in To Parie, is to put by a thrust, or blow, so that you are not touched with it. 1771 A. Lonnergan xviii. 158 To avoid his Parade, double a Square Feint to touch him in Quarte-over-the-arm. 1809 J. Roland 124 At no time should you endeavour to touch your adversary while thrusting carte and tierce. 1853 E. M. Sewell xviii. 183 ‘I dislike this kind of bantering very much, Horatia,’ I said... Horatia laughed merrily. ‘Touched, I declare!’ 1943 A. Nadi xv. 276 Wasn't fencing the art of touching no matter how, as long as one touched before the opponent? 2014 (Nexis) 24 Nov. Each fencer wears an electrified vest which when ‘touched’ by his opponent's weapon lights up one part of the scoreboard. 4. a. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > be in contact with a1350 Recipe Painting in (1844) 1 66 (MED) Tac vinegre ant held into the vessel i-noh so that the nethemoste led ne touche nout the vinegre. a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. xxxi. 19 Who sleeþ aman oþer a man slawyn toucheþ [L. tetigerit]. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 190 He smote him in þe helm, bakward he bare his stroupe. þe body he did ouerwhelm, his hede touched þe croupe. a1450 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (Bodl.) xvi. vii Quike siluer..cleueþ nouȝt to þinge þat it toucheþ. 1511 (Pynson) f. xlvijv If the Galye had ones towched ye Rok we had ben all perysshed. 1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto iv. 10 The ends of their sailyards, whereof some were so long that they touched even the very water. 1770 P. Luckombe 385 Its touching the letters underneath may be prevented. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Talking Oak xxxiii, in (new ed.) II. 72 So fleetly did she stir, The flower, she touch'd on, dipt and rose. 1860 J. Tyndall ii. viii. 263 Loose shingle..falls upon the ice where it touches the rocks. 1915 J. Buchan ii. 43 As I poked into the tobacco my fingers touched something hard, and I drew out Scudder's little black pocket-book. 1960 C. Day Lewis ii. 43 The high-waisted skirt of her costume touches the ground. 2014 (Nexis) 14 Aug. In places branches are touching the houses. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near [verb (intransitive)] > be in contact ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Paris) (1971) 39 (MED) A bone is ifounde aboue þat is cleped craneum..and is nouȝt ordeyned of a contynue bone, but of 7 peces towchyng [L. ex septem contiguis]. 1618 W. Lawson viii. 23 That no tree..drop vpon, or touch his fellowes... If they touch, the winde will cause a forcible rub. a1634 W. Austin (1635) 63 If we could get Heaven and Earth, to meete; there might be hope, to step in. Let them touch (once) in any Place. 1781 43 Suppl. 642/1 If the number of parts that touch make no alteration in the friction, the friction of a point must be the same as a broad base. 1788 D. Humphreys p. v Our hands touched, perhaps, for the last time. 1821 P. B. Shelley 26 Those spheres..Touch, mingle, are transfigured. 1898 30 Apr. 1071/2 She did not draw away resentfully as their fingers touched when he took the shears. 1924 24 378 The electricity can't go through the wrapping even when the wires touch. 1949 May 64/1 I wheeled in the first field going like hell, wheels touching. 2001 L. J. Cates 216 Their bodies blended with intimate grace as they touched. 2010 M. Mewshaw 240 Eucalyptus trees touched overhead. b. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near to [verb (transitive)] > be in contact with > border on a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 61 (MED) Occean..in many places wel nyh toucheþ [L. tangit] þe ynner sees. c1400 ( G. Chaucer (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §5. 20 Waite wel wher as thin Almury towcheth the bordure, & set ther a prikke of ynke. ?a1425 (c1400) (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 53 The vale of Iosaphath þat toucheth to the walles as þough it were a large dych. a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in (1887) 10 17 (MED) Calaterie woode..touchid sum-tyme Yoorke. 1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner i. f. 31v A Bozia..is conioined to ye Furnace with the best lute, that is, of that part which the body of ye Bozia thickest fenced, toucheth to the furnace. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay iv. xxix. f. 149v Beoce stretching from the East to the West, toucheth the sea Eboique, and the gulfe Etanee. 1630 tr. G. Botero (rev. ed.) 361 This State, touching the Apenine mountaines on the South, and the Adriatike Sea upon the North. 1780 ‘Integer’ v. 58 As to excluding us from the sea, how ridiculous is the idea; when every body knows, that our land touches it for above 1600 miles together. 1790 P. Luckombe III. sig. 6 On the Southern border of this county, where it touches upon Monmouthshire..we must look for, according to distance, the Burrium of Antoninus. 1805 W. Clark Jrnl. 19 Nov. in (1990) VI. 70 The high lands..does not touch the Sea Coast again below point Lewis leaveing a low pondey countrey. 1865 C. Dickens II. iii. viii. 69 A part of the road where it touched the river. 1897 R. S. S. Baden-Powell x. 260 The Transvaal border touches ours near Tuli. 1921 VI. 208/2 Meuse, a department in France, touching Belgium in the N[orth]. 1949 263 187/1 Situated between the Soviet Union on the north, India on the east and south, with a small strip of territory touching the Chinese province of Sinkiang, and Iran on the west. 2014 J. Kuhn in J. Hagopian xxiii. 248 Addressed to the state senator and the four state representatives whose regions touched my school district, the letter was provocative and direct. the world > space > distance > nearness > be near [verb (intransitive)] > be in contact > have same boundary the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > succeed or follow [verb (transitive)] > continuously 1567 T. Gale tr. Galen Θεραπευτικον: Methodus Medendi iii. iv, in 155 When as the Sanies doe deuour the Union, and the voyde places which are betwixt the partes to be ioyned, doe let the frontes of the inward sides to tutch. 1669 J. Flavell iii. iii. 211 There are several particulars in which this..design..and pains of Husbandmen..do meet and touch. 1721 tr. D. Le Clerc vii. 119 We must observe, that those cross Lines touch and fall on the middle Line, in that Part where every Node is included between two Strokes. 1795 W. Paley (ed. 3) I. i. ix. 251 A series of writers, touching upon one another. 1822 E. Baines I. 161/2 The point at which the two original parishes touched is about 23 miles from Dewsbury and 14 from Whalley. 1834 L. E. Landon II. xii. 136 Our estates touch, and he says she is grown up the prettiest blue-eyed fairy in the world. 1931 A. L. Rowse 205 Control and regulation are proper as regards those matters where our interests most touch. 1958 E. S. Gifford iv. 87 Some authorities on the subject preferred water found where three parishes touched. 2012 (Nexis) 5 Dec. People went incessantly back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touched, indoors and outdoors, domestic and public, house and street. c. Geometry. the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > linearize [verb (transitive)] > have contact 1551 R. Record i. sig. F.iijv That quadrate is called properly to be drawen in a circle, when all his fower angles doeth touche the edge of the circle. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid iii. f. 81 A right line is sayd to touch a circle, which touching the circle and being produced cutteth it not. 1629 F. Malthus tr. 171 The line AB toucheth the Circumference of the Circle in B, and so AB is called a Tangent line. 1704 J. Harris I Tangent, of a Parabola, (or other Conick Section, or Geometrical Curve) is a Right Line Drawn, cutting the Ax Produced, and touching the Section in one Point without cutting it. 1775 J. H. Moore 16 If the edge of the Sun used be observed not to cut, but to touch the horizon line, like a tangent, the observation is well made. 1885 T. H. Eagles 136 To describe an ellipse to touch five given lines. 1966 J. H. Cadwell x. 100 Still more special is an inflectional tangent which both touches and crosses a curve. 2000 P. Scherz App. C 469 At the same time, you envision a tangent line touching the curve at the point. 1551 R. Record ii. sig. I.ijv If two circles bee drawen so one withoute and other, that their edges doo touche and a right line bee drawenne frome the centre of the one to the centre of the other, that line shall passe by the place of their touching. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid xi. f. 324v If vnto three right lines which touch the one the other, be erected a perpendicular line from the common point where those three lines touch: those three right lines are in one and the selfe same plaine superficies. 1638 J. Burroughs i. 265 A straight line wil touch wth another straight line in every point, but a crooked line will not. 1670 W. Marshall vii. 155 The right-lined angle contained under the two right-lined tangents touching at the two homologal and answering points. 1798 W. Jackson 84 For ever approaching, but never touching, like the diagonal line between two parallels. 1840 D. Lardner 52 The straight line joining the centres of circles which touch externally, must pass through their point of contact. 1892 M. B. Betham-Edwards xvii. 169 Slight..as is the difference, the parallel lines never touch. 1949 71 34 If the two circles touch, the cross-ratios reduce to 0 and 1 respectively. 2016 C. Beveridge x. 201 When x = 3/ 2, the curves touch rather than cross. 5. society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > play instrument [verb (transitive)] > play with fingers society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing wind instrument > play wind instrument [verb (transitive)] > sound horn a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 211 (MED) The lenger deel of þe streng, if it is i-touched [L. pulsata], schal ȝeue a soun þat hatte tonus. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1033 Þough þe best harpour..Wolde on þe best sounded Ioly harpe..Touche ay o streng..It shulde make euery wyght to dulle To here his gle. 1484 W. Caxton tr. vii. f. c A fyssher..somtyme touched his bagpype nyhe the Ryuer for to make the fysshe to daunce. a1505 R. Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 611 in (1981) 152 Than Orpheus, our ressoun, is full wo And twichis on his harp. 1580 J. Lyly (new ed.) f. 130 Instruments sound sweetest, when they be touched softest. a1640 P. Massinger Guardian ii. iv. 60 in (1655) I'll touch my horn (Severino blows his horn), they know my call. 1697 J. Dryden ii. 2 Timotheus..With flying Fingers touch'd the Lyre. 1779 No. 43. ⁋6 The organ was touched with a hand less firm. 1799 E. S. Gooch I. i. 9 She sat down at some distance, and again touched the strings of her lute. 1827 J. Barrington II. 164 I recollect Moore..one night..touching the piano-forte, in his own unique way. 1888 J. W. Burgon II. ix. 214 Having touched the piano, [he] was requested to sing. 1913 E. Hough xx. 182 It belikes me much, fair maid.., to hear you yourself and none other, fairest of all my captives, touch the lute, or whatever you may call it. 1993 (Univ. Texas) Sept.–Oct. 35/2 Each evening closes with the pianist touching the keys softly while one of the group asks the Lord's blessing. 2013 S. A. Carney 152 He reaches for his guitar and touches the strings in the melancholy rhythm of cante jondo. society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > play instrument [verb (transitive)] > play (music) on instrument c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 4141 (MED) To heren þe heuenly armonye Be musik touchid vp-on string & corde, So euen in on & iustly þei acorde, It wold an hert rauische in-to Ioye. c1450 in K. Sisam (1933) 170 (MED) Þe mayster longith a lityl, and lascheth a lesse, Twyneth hem tweyn and towchith a treble: Tik, tak! hic, hac! tiket, taket! tyk, tak! ?a1500 in (1911) 126 367 (MED) The myrthes in Instrumentes with armony at the fest, Wher Job his Children were gadred togeder, So merely was toched that both most and leste Joyed in god, in the house of the eldest brother. 1597 T. Morley 156 You must note that your song beeing gouerned with flats it is as vnformall to touch a sharpe eight in E la mi, as in this key to touch it in F fa ut. 1685 H. Playford 10 Tune your Lute, and raise your Voice, touch each Note that's soft and moving. 1773 H. Mackenzie II. iii. 28 I was enchanted hither by the sound of your flute. Pray touch that little melancholy tune again. 1797 I. Gumley 233 Nor be averse thy coral lip to wear with shepherd's reed, or touch the sprightly air. 1823 W. Scott III. vii. 170 A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet. 1848 W. M. Thackeray lix. 537 Touching, to the best of her simple art, melancholy harmonies on the keys. 6. society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > put quality mark on [verb (transitive)] > metals 1423–4 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §54. m. 30 That no..man that werketh selver hernois, put noon therof to the sale..or [= ere] that it be touched wyth the touche of the liberdisheed, that that may resonabli bere the touche. c1500 in J. Harley et al. (1928) I. 420 (MED) Brokon silver, as old grydelles, lokettes, chapis, and other sawdrid ware not towchyd, the unce, iij s. 1697 142 None shall put to sale any Silver Harness in London before it is touched. 1747 in C. Welch (1902) II. 193 That all..wares capable of a large Touch shall be touched with a large Touch. 1772–3 c. 52 §6 I will touch no silver but what shall be of the goodness of and according to the standard of this kingdom. 1852 A. Ryland 72 The silversmiths..were under great difficulties..for want of assayers in convenient places to assay and touch their plate. 1964 G. Taylor (new ed.) 169 In 1703 the company's court was thanked for having forbidden a member to bring goods made by foreigners to the Hall to be assayed and touched. †b. To test the purity of gold or silver, esp. by means of a touchstone. society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > test 1469 in (1806) 15 173 The kyng willeth that ii gode stones and good nedeles for to touche be alwey ther redie..to make assaie of gold. 1548 f. clxxxxiii There the crounes were wayed and touched. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. iii. 6 They haue all bin touch'd, and found Base-Mettle. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. i. 26 A counterfeit Resembling Maiesty, which being touch'd and tride, Proues valuelesse. View more context for this quotation 1745 P. Thomas 136 They..then carry [the bars of Silver] to be touch'd and mark'd. 1775 J. Clark 17 As to the Aquafortis, Sir, I have often had it [sc. Gold] touched with it. 1814 C. Pope (ed. 2) 605 All gold vessels, plate, and manufactures of gold whatever..shall be touched, assayed, and marked with the several marks directed to be used by this act. 1905 C. J. Jackson iv. 32 Doubtless the expert assayer could tell, with some approximation to accuracy,..the quality of the metal ‘touched’. the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > test [verb (intransitive)] > undergo test society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > qualities of metals > [verb (intransitive)] > undergo test a1625 J. Fletcher Loyal Subj. i. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher (1647) sig. Ddd2v/1 And now you are brought to th' test, touch right now souldier, Now shew the manly pureness of thy mettle. 1665 R. Head I. xiv. 28 Another [coin] call'd Compositum, which is a mixt Metal, and will both touch and cut, but will not indure the fiery test. 1701 J. Collier tr. Marcus Aurelius iii. iv. 31 His Honesty is right Sterling, and touches as well as it looks. 1705 tr. W. Bosman vi. 81 These Lumps or Pieces are called Mountain-Gold; which being melted, touch better than Dust-Gold. 1863 R. F. Burton II. viii. 120 The gold thus dug is of two kinds, dust gold and mountain gold... The latter..touches better. 7. a. To paint, draw, etc., (an artwork) by touching the surface lightly or delicately with the brush, pencil, etc.; to make small additions or modifications to an artwork in this way. Also in extended use, with reference to writing, dramatic performance, etc. Cf. touch n. 10b. See also to touch in, to touch up 1 at Phrasal verbs.society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > [verb (transitive)] > modify or insert detail 1523 J. Skelton sig. Ev Enflorid wt flowris and slymy snaylis Enuyuid picturis well towchid & quikly. 1675 A. Browne (ed. 2) App. 10 The next you touch the Tips of the Ears with the forementioned Temperature. 1711 A. Pope 4 The Lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right. 1780 W. Cowper 2 July (1979) I. 359 To touch and retouch is..the secret of almost all good writing, especially in verse. 1845 Apr. 223/2 The picture was touched and re-touched, put aside and resumed. 1890 7th Ser. 10 118/2 My impression [of the engraving] is unequal, being faint in some parts, very dark in others. If the plate was worn, it has been ‘touched’ afterwards. 1978 M. Bingham ix. 148 All Irving's parts were like paintings which were continually to be touched and re-touched. 2012 R. King (2013) x. 145 His style was to work slowly and deliberately, layer by layer, touching and retouching, carefully contemplating the effects as he progressed. 1675 R. Bentley in To Rdr. If a great Master have but touch'd upon an ordinary Piece, he makes it of Value. 1763 H. Walpole III. iv. 117 A French painter who was suffered to alter and touch upon his pictures. 1798 T. Jones (1951) 100 Employ'd in touching on the Sketches I had made. 1847 3 327/1 His latest performances show that the hand of the master has been touching and retouching wherever an added tint..could bring the picture nearer to perfection. 1847 R. N. Wornum vii. 97 He certainly touched upon the picture only at intervals. the world > matter > colour > colouring > colour [verb (transitive)] > tinge 1609 W. Shakespeare xvii. sig. B4v Such heauenly touches nere toucht earthly faces. 1714 W. Derham (ed. 2) viii. vi. 400 Little smooth Cases..under Oaken-Leaves, globous, but flattish; at first touched with a blushing Red, afterwards growing brown. 1847 L. Hunt (1848) xii. 158 The rock on the woody promontory..is touched with rose-colour. 1883 F. M. Peard xix A faint smile touched her lips as she wondered. 1928 A. Huxley xxx. 494 The hills on the other side of the valley were touched with sunlight. 1958 P. Gibbs 83 Her rather full lips were touched with rouge. 2002 Oct. 106/2 Turn with tongs, giving them about 1–2 minutes in total; they should be touched with brown but don't allow them to harden or toughen up. the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > coat or cover with a layer [verb (transitive)] > smear or spread with a substance > lightly 1569 R. Androse tr. G. Ruscelli ii. 52 Take Plantine water and mixe it with oyle of Brimstone, and touch [It. toccarai] therwith the gummes. 1604 W. Shakespeare iv. vii. 119 Ile tutch my point With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly, it may be death. View more context for this quotation 1659 Secrets Phioravante ii. xxix. 73 in tr. L. Fioravanti (new ed.) Ulcers that are caused of Morbo Gallico, if you will cure them, you must first remove the cause..and touch them with our Castick. 1713 W. Cockburn v. 165 The Crystallin is to be touched with this Tincture Five Times, at most, after it is first humbled with sublimate or precipitate Mercury. 1793 T. Beddoes 142 Some persons whose skin is no sooner touched with quicksilver ointment than it is felt in the salivary glands. 1843 R. J. Graves xxvi. 332 The raw surface itself..touched with zinc ointment. 1888 W. R. Gowers II. iv. 326 The patient should be brought slightly..under its [i.e. mercury's] influence, so as just to ‘touch the gums’, as the phrase is. 1904 3 366 Externally, dusting with boric acid, applying boric acid ointment, or touching each granuloma with silver nitrate..are occasionally of value. 1969 B. Spock (U.K. rev. ed.) 169 The doctor may recommend touching it with an antiseptic powder or powdered alum to hasten drying and healing. 2014 S. Bhattacharya x. 202 The treatment included washing the ulceration with warm water, touching it with silver nitrate, applying a poultice of bread and water. the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > magnetize [verb (transitive)] ?1574 W. Bourne xxiii. sig. D. iij To haue diuers compasses ready made with the Needle of them vntouched, and to carie a good Lodestone with them to touche those compasses when the compasse hath the greatest variation. 1627 J. Smith ii. 12 The darke Compasse hath the points blacke and white, and the other onely touched for the true North and South. 1698 Mr. Ballard in (Royal Soc.) 20 418 I took my Knife, which had been formerly toucht..and profering it to the Needle, it drew the North Pole. 1707 E. Ward 13 The Loadstone.., tho' never so well touch'd, will often point from its true Pole. 1795 C. Hutton at Magnet This vertical way of touching a bar will not give it quite so much of the magnetic virtue. 1888 E. Atkinson tr. E. Mascart & J. Joubert II. iii. i. 597 By making the observations in the above order, the needle need only be touched once. 1999 M. G. Moran in T. C. Kynell & M. G. Moran viii. 160 This naturally magnetic ore..was used to ‘touch’ the needle to remagnetize it. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius iv. 151 The ship touch'd against a Sand-bank, but was soon got off. 1714 tr. H. Joutel 37 The..Captain's Carelessness in not dropping his Anchor, as soon as the Ship touch'd [Fr. aussitôt..que la navire touchoit], which would have prevented her sticking aground. 1797 G. Staunton I. vii. 280 The Lion in her passage from Batavia, touched upon a new or unnoticed knoll... As the ship touched by the stern, the guns at that extremity were moved forwards towards the head. 1851 C. Rowcroft xxxix. 360 I shall never forget the old captain's face when the ship touched. 1929 C. F. Smith iii. 48 The miraculous escape of an army doctor on passage home, who, a few minutes before the ship touched, had gone below to look out some photographs to show to a fellow passenger. 2008 Apr. 89/1 The lake turned out to be a piece of cake; we touched only three times. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > quality of being tangible > have specified feel when touched [verb (intransitive)] the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > make cold [verb (transitive)] > affect or injure with intense cold or frost 1794 G. Culley (ed. 2) p. xv We say this beast touches nicely upon its ribs, hips, &c. &c. because we find a mellow, pleasant feel on those parts. 1874 Mar. 263/2 The other bull on service..touches well, is low and lengthy, and has splendidly long quarters. 1885 R. Jefferies 104 They [sc. leaves] touch rough—dusty rough, as books touch that have been lying unused. 1927 6 Dec. 9/1 She [sc. a cow] ‘touches’ well wherever one may pass his hands. 1955 Summer 56/2 I want a ram that will handle, one that touches well. society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > form or reform [verb (intransitive)] > fall into line > touch 1798 H. Dickinson 75 The leading man of the Front Rank..marks Time, the Rest wheel up to him, dressing by the Left, and touching lightly to the Right. 1824 H. W. Torrens (rev. ed.) v. 311 He will order By the Right, upon which the men will touch to the right, keeping their eyes direct to their front. 1877 26 During the wheel, each man must touch lightly..towards the pivot flank. 1813 J. Montgomery ii. 207 Time had but touch'd her form to finer grace. 1892 Ld. Tennyson 4 Shall not æon after æon pass and touch him into shape? 1892 I. Zangwill I. i. 25 The single jet of gas-light depending from the ceiling flared upon the strange simian faces, and touched them into a grotesque picturesqueness. 1920 J. Paterson-Smyth iv. iv. 189 As He [sc. Jesus] touched them into health He felt strength going out from Him. 1925 Nov. 805/1 The seeds have long been dormant under the heavy growth until sunlight touched them into life. 2013 J. P. Noble xiv. 252 This small bit of dust Has been touched into life by God. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > play rugby football [verb (transitive)] > actions to ball 1864 19 Nov. 354/2 When the ball is touched inside goal-line, must it be touched down dead? that is, is it fair touch if the ball move or roll afterwards? 1877 24 Feb. 220/1 Hutchinson..safely touched the ball behind the home team's line. 1915 (Univ. Calif.) 154 Both tries for California were touched behind the resisting line with his own hands. 1916 3 Feb. 109/4 Dave Thomas..managed to touch the ball behind the line. II. In extended uses, in which the idea of physical contact is present, but the focus is on the intention or outcome of contact, rather than the contact itself. 15. the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] c1300 (Harl.) (1844) 28 (MED) Ich hote ȝou..That ȝe ne tuouche [c1300 Laud derien] him noȝt to niȝt. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) 10369 In þe popes half he sede, ich uorbede vpe mansinge Þat no man ne touchi þulke clerc. ?a1425 (c1400) (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 49 The Soudan hath do make a wall aboute the sepulcre þat noman may towche it. 1577 R. Holinshed II. 779/1 The Monkes and the goodes belonging to the Abbey they touched not, but they made hauocke in the Kings palace. 1598 W. Shakespeare ii. v. 274 The lion will not touch the true prince. View more context for this quotation 1613 R. N. i. i. 4 He is the true cause of a Mans death, who comaundeth the Man to be killed, though himselfe do not touch the Man. 1716 T. Hearne (1901) V. 271 He stood [in the Pillory]..on Wednesday, and was not touch'd; but yesterday..he was pelted miserably. 1749 133 Cobby said he did not know what they were going to do with the Man, that he never touched him, and knew nothing of the Murder. 1836 July 6/1 ‘Who is it that has hurt him?’ ‘I'm sure I don't know, sir; I never touched him.’ 1888 (Weekly ed.) 21 Dec. 4/2 Enemy in full retreat... No English officers touched. 1912 28 Sept. 34/2 You lay so much as a finger on Terry and I'll scratch your eyes out—I will... Don't you dare touch him! 1946 P. G. Wodehouse xvii. 145 Father you are not to touch him. It was a pure misunderstanding. 2013 G. Butz xiii. 103 He slipped and fell... I honestly didn't touch him. 1608 W. Shakespeare xx. 83 They cannot touch mee for coyning, I am the king himselfe. 1688 N. Clagett 62 All the World can not touch him, whatever he makes bold to write. a1702 A. Grey (1763) X. 289 As the Law now stands, it cannot touch such offenders. 1769 13 May The Laws cannot touch the Corporation. 1854 2 Jan. 274 You cannot touch me now, I have not got it about me. 1860 ‘G. Eliot’ II. ii. ii. 164 I know Wakem tells him the law can't touch him for it: but there's folks can handle the law besides Wakem. 1912 Sept. 504/2 If a crime appeals to him, he commits it. And the police can't touch him. 1968 3 Jan. 2/1 It defeats the object of the Act if a man who is asked to take the [breath] test can jump on to his own property and shout at police: You can't touch me! 2007 S. Dunne (2009) xiv. 211 He knows we wouldn't finger him for The Reaper in a million years, unless he gives us a nudge. He's killed three people and we can't touch him for it. 16. the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > damage or stain (clothes, etc.) c1300 St. Edmund Rich (Laud) l. 191 in C. Horstmann (1887) 437 (MED) Þat fuyr nadde power non to touchi [c1300 Harl. tuochi] þe holie here! a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1882) VIII. 61 (MED) A preost was i-smyte to þe deeþ wiþ liȝtnynge in þe myddel of þe peple, and non oþer man was i-touched. c1450 (?a1400) (Ashm.) l. 3301 (MED) Me þink me my lyfe..is like to þis werke Þat þis coppis..knytt in þe woȝes: With þe lest winde of þe werd þat þe werd [perhaps read web] touches..all to noȝt worthis. c1460 (McClean) (1960) 102 (MED) Þe fire touchid hem in no wise ne dede hem none harme. a1500 (?a1450) (Harl. 7333) (1879) 40 If ȝe hadde on your cloke, the reyne shuld not haue y-towchid your clothing. 1561 T. Paynell tr. N. Hanapus xcvii. sig. Oo.ii The fire touched nor consumed not the capitayne that spake mekely vnto Helias. a1626 F. Bacon Physiol. Remains in (1679) 120 For Dissolution into Liquour, we are to enquire..what will touch upon the one [metal] and not upon the other. 1678 J. Moxon I. i. 3 So hard that a File will not touch it, (as Smiths say when a File will not cut or race it). 1725 R. Bradley at Silver The Aqua Regalis, which dissolves Gold, will not touch Silver. 1881 F. Young §1438 No file or cutting tool will ‘touch’ it. 1945 C. E. Balleisen x. 104 It is because potassium chloride has such an affinity for moisture that it can be washed out with water, whereas cleaning with oil will not touch it. 1991 M. Kenyon i. ix. 60 The grass must be tended to. The weeds, you know, can spread... A lawnmower won't touch it; try a scythe, or a gas weed-eater. 2013 (Nexis) 24 July 18 Fortunately, the schoolhouse was on higher ground and was not touched by the floods. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > production of disease > make diseased [verb (transitive)] > infect ?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. m. iii. l. 3483 Circe..medlyþ to hir newe gestes drynkes þat ben touched [L. tacta] and maked wiþ enchauntmentȝ. 1602 W. Leigh Soules Solace in W. Harrison (ed. 2) 7 When..he [sc. Job] was tucht in his own person, so as his bone claue to his flesh. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. vii. 2 It is too late, the life of all his blood Is touch'd, corruptibly. View more context for this quotation 1681 No. 1584/4 Lost.., A bright Bay Gelding.., all his Paces.., his Wind touch'd. 1773 R. Graves I. ii. xii. 98 An horse, which was touched in the wind. 1794 A. Radcliffe III. iii. 53 An icy coldness touched her cheeks, and her fears for a while overcame her judgment. 1884 E. P. Roe ii The plants that were touched with frost. 1913 7 June 7/1 The damage on higher ground was less, and many fields came through with but few blossoms touched. 1979 M. Seth-Smith & R. Mortimer iii. 86 Lily Agnes..was touched in her wind but was a stout-hearted stayer that won over 20 races. 2010 W. Pennell i. 15 The sharp winds of winter brought the acid taint of oak and hickory leaves touched by frost. the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (transitive)] > make drunk 1833 Dec. 645/2 A man rather touched by wine, is sure to take fire on the most distant imputation of drunkenness. 1906 J. Curtin tr. H. Sienkiewicz i. 23 The wine has touched me also a trifle. 1937 3 June 7/4 I have seen students in college so strangely touched by drink that they became brutal in the extreme. 2001 A. Thorpe xi. 122 Maybe the wine had touched him. 17. To handle, however slightly. Chiefly in negative constructions or contexts. the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. vii. 1 It bifelle, seuen bretheren taken to gidre with the modir, for to be constreyned of the kyng for to touche [L. edere] aȝeinus leeue swynys flesche. c1400 (?c1380) (1920) l. 245 (MED) He ete of an apple..Þe defence watz þe fryt þat þe freke towched. ?c1450 (1891) l. 3346 (MED) Þe forsaide gose þai touched noȝt. c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 9 That euen full was þat fre and no fode touchet. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. vii. 98 He dies that touches any of this fruite, Till I, and my affaires are answered. View more context for this quotation 1660 H. Jeanes 19 Many for meere reverence..will neither touch wine nor bread, abstaining altogether from the Sacrament. 1752 Aug. 435/1 My master swears he cannot touch my tarts. 1766 O. Goldsmith II. ii. 42 If a spoonful of liquor were to cure me of a fever, I never touch a drop. 1848 Nov. 135 A gentleman who witnessed the operation of clearing away the bodies, told me that he could not touch food for three days. 1886 W. J. Tucker 191 I could not touch another drop, unless more of the gentlemen join me. 1993 5 178 He had resolved not to touch drugs again, not even pot. 2008 J. Morgan iv. 19 She couldn't touch another bite. the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > have to do with or be involved in or with > at all c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 23 All loste þe lyfe þat þe lede touchet. 1650 Bp. J. Hall xvi. 132 That they ever offered to touch with any either Secular or Sacred business, wee never finde. 1693 J. Locke §175 Studies which a Gentleman should not barely touch at, but constantly dwell upon. 1701 in (1852) II. 63 But they refused to touch with it unless it was intirely surrendered to ym [i.e. them]. 1746–7 J. Hervey (1818) 214 Our purity is of so delicate a complexion, that it scarce touches on the world without contracting a stain. 1798 W. Hunter (ed. 2) II. 248 The Turks never touch cards or dice. 1862 A. Gray (1893) 495 I was..copying out Grisebach's manuscripts for the printer (for the printer won't touch the Dutchy-looking thing). 1886 J. Ruskin I. xi. 345 I had never touched a card. 1922 A. Conan Doyle Probl. Thor Bridge in Mar. 14/3 It is only for the young lady's sake that I touch your case at all. 1987 22 11/3 The LTTE..will not touch the proposal to accept only Batticaloa. 2015 (Nexis) 6 June Evans championed stars and bands that other shows wouldn't touch. 1578 W. B. tr. Appian of Alexandria ii. 96 He brake the lockes of the common treasure,..and tooke away the money that no man durst touch, being layd vp there, against the inuasions of France. 1586 G. Whitney i. 74 With slender fare, he doth his hunger feede, And dare not touche his store, when hee doth neede. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch 210 These covetous wretches..who spare their money and wil not touch it, through a desire onely that they have of money. 1686 tr. J. Chardin 335 He found both the Persians and the Armenians equally offended with him for his extravagant Expences..; So that not a man would..suffer him to touch the Patriarchal Treasure. 1711 T. Hearne (1889) III. 103 Five hundred Pounds..wch he said he never did or would touch. 1772 J. Marshall II. iii. 88 I would not touch my travellling store, as we found it would be wanted the next day, though I had added pretty considerably to it at Munster. 1847 25 Jan. 4/3 The leading discount houses are so well supplied by the banks and other money dealers on easy terms, that..they have no occasion to touch their own deposit reserves. 1942 4 May 51/1 Malta has not yet touched its cold-storage reserves. Nevertheless, bringing food to this congested, bomb-ridden population is the primary problem. 2014 (Nexis) 18 Oct. 48 From next April, anyone who has not touched their savings will be able to leave them as an inheritance. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touching with the hand > touch or feel with the hand [verb (transitive)] > touch lightly the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > acting in another's business or intervention > intervene between [verb (transitive)] > interfere in or meddle with c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. vi. 17 Touche ȝe not vnclene thing.] 1647 H. Moseley in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Stationer to Rdr. He [sc. Fletcher]..never touched pen till all was to stand as firme and immutable as if ingraven in Brasse or Marble. 1688 J. Barnes ii. v. 378 King David was strictly admonished in a Dream, by no means to presume to touch any thing belonging unto his Church. a1774 A. Tucker (1777) III. iv. xxxv. 259 The men take direction from hence what books to read, the ladies in what works to employ their needle, and both to touch neither books nor needle when the prevailing mode of the time or place happens to run against them. 1795 P. Will tr. J. C. Lavater I. 200 You must not touch my books, nor my papers. 1838 Sept. 177/1 It [sc. a sign] is now so faded you can hardly trace a single letter of the names or words inscribed on it. It has not been touched for the last forty years. 1883 117/2 Only think; I have not touched my painting all this week. 1912 Sept. 45/2 I have not touched my car now for nearly a year. 1985 24 Aug. c9/5 I don't touch his stuff because I know he'll get mad. 2015 (Nexis) 27 July 3 b The property has not been touched in years and is in violation of city codes. 18. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach (a point or place) [verb (transitive)] the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [verb (transitive)] > reach (a certain point) c1384 (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Dan. iv. 8 A greete tree..touchynge [L. contingens] heuen. c1400 (?c1380) (1920) l. 1393 When þe terme of þe tyde watz towched of [þe] feste, Dere droȝen þerto, and upon des metten. c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 1375 And with hir hed she touched heuene. c1460 (McClean) (1960) 122 (MED) Þei shuld euer fele lowly of perfeccioun and þenke þat vnnethe þey han touchid þe lest poynt of perfeccioun. a1500 tr. A. Chartier (Rawl.) (1974) 28 (MED) I feele wele that our naturall witte..may nat touche so highe and infinite bounte. 1567 G. Turberville f. 134 To touch the highst degree Is passing hard, too doe the best sufficing is for thee. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher iii. ii. 224 I haue touch'd the highest point of all my Greatnesse. View more context for this quotation 1788 M. A. Meilan V. 39 Should I be impatient, when I almost touch the limit of my days? 1842 Ld. Tennyson Vision of Sin in (new ed.) II. 214 The music touch'd the gates and died. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in 4 Ere he touch'd his one-and-twentieth May. 1883 3 Dec. 4/1 The price, after touching 88, fell back on French sales to 86. 1937 7 Jan. 1/8 The temperature touched 14 above zero. 1974 ‘J. le Carré’ xxii. 183 On the drive down he had touched ninety before Smiley sharply told him to go steady. 2010 11 Dec. 22/8 Gold touched a nominal record of $1,430.95 an ounce. the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > make equal [verb (transitive)] > equal, match, or rival 1530 (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 198 Tyl there were rysen a starre..that myght with hys heate touche to the heate of the sonne. 1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus iv. 161 For integrity & vpright dealing no man could touch him. 1770 S. Foote ii. i. 31 Except the breeches-maker from Barbican, and Sawny Sinclair the snuffman, there is not a mortal can touch him. 1837 July 10 No man can touch him for costume, the propriety of which is every thing in a sportsman's eye, but which none but a sportsman can be correct in. 1838 C. Dickens III. xlii. 122 Is there one of you that could touch him or come near him on any scent—eh? 1902 V. Jacob viii. 84 I thought there was nothing that could touch that mare of mine. 1977 Apr. 24/1 For rock'n'roll that's fast hard and exciting, there's few to touch them. 2015 (Nexis) 6 Aug. On stage, nobody can touch him. He creates this bond with his audience. 19. c1451 J. Capgrave (1910) 75 (MED) Thus, seknes growyng, and age of an hundred ȝere touching, he was in party compelled for to passe fro þis lif. the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > render similar to [verb (transitive)] > approach, approximate, or border upon ?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer i. 8 Thy forehead and faire eyes, at his forme touch. 1751 S. Johnson No. 129. 190 The daring and the cautious may move in different directions, without touching upon rashness or cowardice. 1810 J. Porter V. x. 252 Her whole soul was bent, with an intensity that touched on madness, on the execution of a project. 1896 J. Curtin tr. H. Sienkiewicz lvi. 439 He had looked for enthusiasm touching on frenzy. 1910 5 Jan. 4/1 With a rare zeal for the public good, and an enthusiasm touching fanaticism. 1915 D. H. Conner tr. P. Berger 11 Here we have fancy touching on madness. 1961 J. Cameron 170 A private pride and exclusivity that touches arrogance. 2012 P. Pascarella 184 He commented on the subjects' meaning with determination, touching on insanity. the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [verb (intransitive)] > approach an age the world > existence and causation > occurrence > future events > [verb (transitive)] > approach or be in store for 1791 E. Burke 33 During the course of a political life just touching to its close. 1801 IV. 224 Brother Ambrose touches at that dreadful hour, which delivers us to the sentence of an incorruptible judge! 1811 29 June 1603 The war in Spain and Portugal, which war many, in this country, looked upon as touching its close. 1838 20 Oct. 669/2 B. has enlivened the dull season of the year (now, we hope, touching its end) in London. 1913 R. Sabatini vi. 179 One night, as the year was touching its end, it seemed to me that my prayer was answered. 1947 T. Mann 33 The insouciance of the bourgeois era touching to its end. the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > approximate to (an amount) [verb (transitive)] the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [verb (transitive)] > approach an age 1851 15 474/1 It was now touching upon twenty years since he was first associated with many friends whom he saw around him. 1935 R. C. Woodthorpe v. 108 If you kept your eyes off the speedometer you would never dream we were touching seventy-five. 1984 S. Terkel (1985) i. i. 34 Though he's touching sixty, his manner is that of a young man. 2014 (Nexis) 5 July b001 It is touching 70 years since conflict so transfixed the nation. 20. Originally and chiefly Nautical. society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > reach land or port > temporarily 1511 (Pynson) f. viv Many Shyppyes and galyes touche there rather then at Parence. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda i. xlii. 96 That in his way he should touch at the Ilande of S. Blaze. 1633 J. Winthrop 4 Sept. (1996) 95 The master beinge bond to touch at the Wighte, the pursevantes attended there &..the said ministers were taken in at the downes. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil 401 Lest the Trojans pious Host Shou'd bear, or touch upon th' inchanted Coast. 1725 D. Defoe i. 62 As any Ship touch at that Port. 1781 J. Weskett 550 When masters of vessels have liberty to touch at different ports, the insurers shall not be liable for accidents that may happen to goods on Shore. 1787 in J. A. Park ii. 55 With liberty to touch, stay, and trade, at any ports or places whatsoever. 1828 R. Duppa 206 We touched at Panaria..on account of its warm baths, of which there are numerous vestiges. 1870 C. Kingsley in 203/1 Our own mail steamers..could as easily touch at Terceira now, as they did a few years since. 1895 W. Gow iii. 59 The liberty to touch and stay is limited by its close application to the main object of the voyage. 1948 Feb. 64/2 They later touched at Bangkok and Hanoi, Indo-China, and on September 29 flew 558 miles to Hong Kong. 1969 E. R. H. Ivamy xiii. 142 It was formerly held that ‘liberty to touch and stay’ did not permit of trading at the port of call. 1999 G. S. Cox ii. 23 During wartime ‘considerable purchases’ of British manufactures were frequently made by neutrals who touched at the island. society > travel > travel by water > [verb (transitive)] > reach by sailing or arrive at > temporarily ?1530 J. Rastell Prol. sig. A Lykly to touche lande in many other places. 1597 W. Shakespeare ii. i. 290 All these..With eight tall shippes..meane to touch our Northerne shore. View more context for this quotation 1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi 7 Supposing that they could not touch land in Sardegna. 1774 S. Johnson 26 Nov. (1992) II. 156 Shall we touch the continent? 1846 Feb. 555/3 The Albert and Wilberforce left Davenport on the 12th of May; and after touching Madeira and Teneriffe..arrived at Porto Grande on the 3rd June. 1850 Ld. Tennyson xiv. 22 If one should bring me this report, That thou hadst touch'd the land to-day. View more context for this quotation 1918 G. Iles 129 Before the Idaho touched Liverpool, Alice secretly engaged herself to Yates. 2013 (Nexis) 24 Mar. 27 a Her ultimate cruise..left Copenhagen and touched ports across the North Sea. 21. the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)] > steal from 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre iv. iii. 57 in II How now lime-twig? hast thou touch'd. 1807 iii. iv. 317 Touching a cly, robbing a pocket. 1862 Nov. 648 We have just touched for a rattling stake of sugar [i.e. a large quantity of money] at Brum. 1879 J. W. Horsley in 40 504/2 I went out the next day to Maidenhead, and touched for some wedge and a poge (purse), with over five quid in it. 1912 D. Lowrie xiii. 149 I've certainly been touched for my watch and purse. 1928 7 June 52/2 I just got knocked over for that wad we jest lifted... My pocket was picked... I was tapped, touched, if that's any plainer. 1950 Apr. 110 To touch a person is to steal from him. society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [verb (transitive)] > bribe society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > paying (money) for labour or service > pay (a person) for labour or service [verb (transitive)] > tip 1752 H. Fielding IV. xi. iv. 158 He had heard that the great Man must be touched; for that he never did any Thing without touching. 1770 S. Foote iii. 58 The court may proceed... But..I hope no gentleman has been touch'd on both sides. 1790 M. P. Andrews iii. ii. 41 Flurry. What, are you come to the Doctor to be cur'd with a touch, gratis? Litig. A touch, gratis—Oh no, that wou'd not do for me. When I am touch'd, I always take. society > trade and finance > financial dealings > borrowing money > borrow money [verb (transitive)] > borrow money from 1760 C. Johnstone II. i. viii. 66 I am quite broke up: his Grace has touched me for 500. 1809 E. S. Barrett III. 105 If you could get me a commission, I could touch Dad for a few hundreds. 1898 21 May 139/3 Well, old boy, I've just touched Reggy for another tenner. 1951 G. Greene v. iv. 197 ‘If you would lend me a pound.’.. Had she ‘touched’ Henry once too often? 1995 Summer 99 A big, dowdy blond, maybe thirty-five..who'd touch you for a cigarette or spare change. 2007 (Nexis) 30 May Everyone he met seemed to touch him for money. society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (transitive)] > receive or take money 1654 Ld. Hatton Let. 25 Dec. in E. Nicholas (1892) II. 153 He will give you a good account of Mr. Lovell and that he hath touched..over £1000 sterling to his owne use. 1720 J. Swift (single sheet) He touch'd the Pence when others touch'd the Pot. 1758 T. Smollett III. ii. vii. 82 For secret service money during the last ten years the Earl of Orford had touched £1,453,400 of public money. 1834 F. Marryat II. xiii. 226 I proved the [will]..at Doctors' Commons, and touched the whole of her money. 1854 W. M. Thackeray I. xxxi. 303 The..matrimonial arrangement is concluded (the agent touching his per centage). 1898 J. E. C. Bodley II. iii. v. 238 The average annual ministerial salaries touched by French legislators. 1769 W. Falconer Shake her up in the wind, let the sails touch! the order to the helmsman to steer the ship so as to let the sails shake with their edges to the wind. 1781 J. H. Moore (ed. 6) 220 When the Fore-top-sail touches, brace to and help her. 1849 J. M. Murphy & W. N. Jeffers 13 If a squall should come suddenly on the quarter, it will be too long a luff before the sails touch; and it if comes out ahead, they will then be thrown aback. c1860 H. Stuart (rev. ed.) 85 Keep your eye on the weather leech of the sails, and just keep them touching. society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [verb (transitive)] 1785 F. Grose Touch.., to arrest. 1791 J. O'Keeffe ii. i. 23 Knock [at his door], and when he comes out touch him. III. Figurative senses. 25. the world > relative properties > relationship > relate to [verb (transitive)] the world > relative properties > relationship > relate to [verb (transitive)] > concern or refer to a1325 (c1280) (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 2297 (MED) Ich wolle þat he by-leue þus ffor-to ich aȝen go ywis; What toucheþ hit to þe? a1325 (2011) xli. 106 That þer ne passe no writ..vnder þe kinges lutele seal þat tuchi þe commune lawe. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) ii. l. 1970 That oght unto my ladi toucheth. c1400 (Peterhouse) (1991) 229 Ȝut þer is anoþer craft þat towcheth to [c1330 Auch. toucheþ, a1450 Bodl. towcheþ] clergye. 1428 in J. Raine (1890) 7 Yis mater touched all ye gude men of ye consell. a1500 ( J. Lydgate tr. (Lansd.) (1974) l. 839 (MED) Thyng that touchith the welthe of ther Cite Must of wis counsel take auctorite. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. cccxcv. 682 [It was] the duke of Lancastre, to whome the matere moost touched. 1535 Eccl. xii. 14 Feare God, and kepe his comaundementes, for that toucheth all men. 1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye I. 696 There also is..the Treasure-Chamber for causes touching the kings reuenues. 1621 H. Elsynge (1870) 129 There was debate touching Sir Gyles Mompesson. 1673 in O. Airy (1890) I. 104 This may a litle touch upon his Father in Law, my Lord Chancellr. 1710 R. Steele No. 145. ⁋1 A late Request..touching the Care of a young Daughter. 1752 A. McDouall II. iii. 264 This, and every other case touching forfeitures for high treason, must be governed by the law of England. 1867 E. A. Freeman I. iv. 196 (note) The dealings of the Assembly touching the abdication of Rolf. 1883 22 Oct. 5/3 This..touches us not as Liberals or Conservatives, but as citizens. 1959 Apr. 2/1 Christopher Logue..has become ‘engaged’, or ‘committed’, which means that he is striving to write poetry touching the everyday life of ordinary people. 2015 O. Angeli ii. 70 This sort of spatial relativity of law touches all aspects of legal relations. the mind > possession > owning > own [verb (transitive)] > belong to a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 5384 He ȝaf to þe kowherde a kastel ful nobul..and al þat touched þer to a tidi erldome, to þe kowherd & his wif þe king ȝaf þat time. 1378 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt (1931) 280 (MED) Ieo vous pry bryng a wryt of trespas en ver..Wyliam Noryng of yȝerdeley, Wilyam Ducy of Northfeld, þe wheche trespas hu duden þe waley of twenty mark Towchyng to me & my..tenante. the world > relative properties > relationship > relate or connect [verb (intransitive)] ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer xxi. 103 None now of all the brood of Troy..shall any breath enjoy.., specially that touch at Priam's race. 1774 E. Burke (1844) I. 505 To secure the attendance of those whom they touched the most nearly. 1888 J. W. Burgon II. v. 6 He never identified himself with any school of religious thought, though he touched them all. 26. a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 4108 My wif..euer dede me leue, (whan i hire touched swiche tales as me told were). c1400 (?c1380) (1920) l. 1437 (MED) Þenne towchede to þe tresor [= treasurer] þis tale watz sone. c1430 in J. B. Sheppard (1877) 8 (MED) I touchyd to hym yowr gret distresse and lak of money. a1500 (?c1400) Earl of Toulous l. 608 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale (1930) I. 401 (MED) Hyt ys a boteles bale To hur to touche soche a tale. b. Originally: to speak or write about a subject; to discuss; to treat of. Later: to discuss or mention briefly, casually, or in passing; to refer to, allude to; to deal with or address an issue in a cursory or superficial manner. the mind > language > speech > speak, say, or utter [verb (transitive)] > mention or speak of a1375 (c1350) (1867) l. 4991 William..& alphouns anon riȝt of alisaundrine toched, to marie here menskfulli a-mong hem riȝt þanne. c1390 (Vernon) (1967) l. 1312 Sumwhat touchen [Fr. tochier] Ichulle fonde Of þat Ich may vnderstonde. ?a1425 (c1400) (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 202 The roundeness of the erthe, of the whiche I haue towched to ȝou of before. a1500 (?c1425) (1936) 215 (MED) We haue towchid of the preuy companye of heuene. 1543 G. Joye tr. U. Zwingli sig. dd.iii Siche articles as men may lyghtly carpe and twiche at (as it is nowe a dayis the comon maner). 1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine iii. xxi. 139 I thought good to touch at this Asian luxurie. 1613 T. Campion sig. A2 It shall be conuenient, in this generall publication, a little to touch at the description and situation of Cawsome seate. 1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac II. 39 One cannot touch upon any point where hee is not ready for you. 1653 R. Codrington (new ed.) iv. 39 To omit..to touch any more of women. 1665 J. Sergeant 85 We will briefly touch at some of the Advantages which those Assistances..give the Church. 1746 J. Wesley 8 To touch only on what seems of the most Importance. 1784 G. Washington Let. 14 Jan. in (1992) Confederation Ser. I. 45 I have touched upon the business of stuccoing. 1830 June 840/2 How inspiredly the Christian poet touches upon each holy theme! 1866 26 June 6/3 Felix Holt, the Radical, is not..a political novel, though it necessarily touches on politics. 1883 22 Oct. 5/2 The matter was touched upon in a general way at the Leeds Conference. 1916 June 26/2 This only touches at the added cost to produce a quart of milk today. 1940 G. S. Carter ii. 26 We can only touch on the vast subject of the biochemistry of protoplasm here. 1970 11 127 Churchman's discussion touches upon a vast number of topics ranging from metaphysics to linear programming. 2007 A. Theroux xxiii. 332 They found as usual that they had barely touched on the many subjects they had wanted to discuss. the mind > language > speech > narration > narrate, relate, or tell [verb (transitive)] the mind > language > speech > speak, say, or utter [verb (transitive)] > mention or speak of > mention briefly or casually ?a1450 (?c1400) (Lamb.) (1901) 16 The secunde part of þis Crede..towchis xiiij. artyculis. a1500 (?a1450) (Harl. 7333) (1879) 1 And shortly for to touche þis mater; he tooke his leve. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay iii. xi. 91 b I will not forgette to touch the manner of the apparrell. 1669 S. Sturmy v. xii. 67 I shall come to touch how to make a good Shot. a1704 T. Brown Satyr against Woman in (1707) I. i. 85 Nor shall I touch their secret Murthers. 1788 Nov. 558 Tho' he cou'd twitch yon starry lift, It wadna gi'm a lav'rock's gift. 1895 W. E. Gladstone 170 Subjects specially touched in particular passages of the Psalms. a1903 ‘H. S. Merriman’ (1904) v. 56 She gave a curt laugh, as if he had touched a topic upon which they would disagree. 1978 42 263 I have touched this matter briefly regarding blue collar labor in Main Currents in Modern American History, 72-74, 163-65. †27. To succeed in doing something; to attain an end. c1380 in (1946) 21 196 Þu tuchest nowt þe notes, þu bites hem on-sonder. the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > conjecture, guess [verb (transitive)] > correctly a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 18940 Als gaf to þaim þe haligast Alkin wiit to tuche and tast. 1609 W. Shakespeare ii. ii. 193 There you toucht the life of our designe. View more context for this quotation 1715 D. Defoe I. i. iii. 69 O you have touch'd it! there it lies. 1797 H. Lee I. 380 He had at length, then, touched the point of truth. the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > hear [verb (transitive)] > succeed in hearing ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer xix. 77 Hard it is, in such a great concourse (Though hearers' ears be ne'er so sharp) to touch at all things spoke. 28. a1382 (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. vi. 6 It forþouȝt hym þat he had made man in erþ; and byfor warre in tyme to comme & touchid [L. tactus] with soru of hert with inneforþ, ‘I schall do awey,’ he seiþ, ‘man.’ a1425 (?a1400) Bk. Priue Counseling in P. Hodgson (1944) 150 (MED) Ȝe ben touchid with sum priue spice of enuye. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane f. ccclxxi They are neither touched with the gilt of conscience, nor haue geuen none any occasion of displeasure. 1622 F. Bacon 237 Whereas Empson and Dudley..did not giue way onely..but shape him way to those Extremities, for which himselfe was touched with remorse at his Death. 1665 S. Patrick xii. 70 I know this touches you with a strong inclination to it. 1720 A. Pope tr. Homer V. xxi. 105 If ever yet soft Pity touch'd thy mind. 1774 O. Goldsmith II. iii. 212 The Sidonian soldiers alone seemed touched with pity for the fate of their wretched inhabitants. 1810 W. Scott i. 12 Then, touched with pity and remorse, He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 1840 J. A. Clark I. vii. 118 The rude, barbarous people, inhabitants of the island, gathered around, touched with feelings of kindness. 1963 24 Sept. 42/3 Princeton's citizens must have been touched with a tinge of sadness as they watched the procession. 1998 P. Connolly 40/1 Seeing the king humbled and broken, a spark of pity touched his heart. 2013 (Nexis) 1 Feb. 62 The Down panel were touched with grief again a couple of weeks ago when Mark and Conor Poland's grandfather passed away. the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > affect with emotion [verb (transitive)] the mind > emotion > love > tenderness > treat with tenderness or hold dear [verb (transitive)] > soften or make tender a1400 tr. R. Rolle Oleum Effusum (Harl.) in C. Horstmann (1895) I. 187 Þe mynd touched with þe souerayn swetnes. c1475 (?c1300) (Caius) l. 7368 (MED) In all the worlde noo woman y wote That y shall take bot it bee oon That toucheth me in herte alloon. c1500 (1895) 188 He thought it touchid hir hert somwhat. 1603 H. Crosse sig. Q2 [He] heareth a buzzing sound in his eares, but is neuer truly toucht in his heart. 1631 W. Gouge iii. §50. 277 It is inhumanity not to be touched with others needs. 1711 R. Steele No. 11. ⁋7 I was so touch'd with this Story..that I left the Room with Tears in my Eyes. 1764 D. Garrick 1 Feb. (1963) I. 404 Caffarelli..pleased me more than all the singers I have heard. He touched me. 1833 Ld. Tennyson 133 That man, of all the men I ever knew, Most touched my fancy. 1860 W. M. Thackeray Nil nisi Bonum in 227 I can't say how much the thought of that fidelity has touched me. 1937 26 Apr. 15/5 The hundreds of letters of sympathy received..have touched us deeply. 2015 (Nexis) 22 Aug. We have all been touched by the public's outpouring of love for our mother this week. the mind > mental capacity > belief > suggestion, proposal > suggest [verb (transitive)] > affect by suggestion, influence > in particular direction a1425 (?c1350) (1964) l. 115 (MED) Mi lady..wil noght cumand me To tel þat towches me to ill. 1570 T. Wilson Life Demosthenes in tr. Demosthenes 127 As for corrupting him wyth giftes or rewardes, he is no more to be touched that way, than was Aristides. 1667 J. Milton x. 45 No Decree of mine Concurring to necessitate his Fall, Or touch with lightest moment of impulse His free Will. View more context for this quotation 1706 J. Hussey xxiii. 484 Yet a secret Power touches his Will, before he had an Opportunity to know any Thing of that which we call Sanctification and Holiness. 29. the mind > mental capacity > belief > suggestion, proposal > suggest [verb (transitive)] > affect by suggestion, influence a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 11328 Þis symeon þat had his tast Toched o þe hali gast. c1400 (?c1380) l. 898 For neuer lesyng ne tale vntrwe Ne towched her tonge for no dysstresse. a1568 So Fremmit is my Fortoun 14 in (Hunterian Club) 717 Hairtles I am, for slewth twichis me so. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) iii. ii. 338 I thanke God, I am not a Woman to be touch'd with so many giddie offences as hee [sc. my uncle] hath generally tax'd their whole sex withal. View more context for this quotation 1641 B. Rudyerd 19 The Scots being truly touch't with Religion according to their profession. 1736 T. Nettleton (ed. 2) iii. vi. 309 Many persons of tolerable good-nature, and no ways touch'd with pride, yet..are more disturb'd than is necessary, with every little mark of disrespect. 1850 Ld. Tennyson cvii. 167 High nature amorous of the good, But touch'd with no ascetic gloom. View more context for this quotation 1917 Jan. 95/1 He was touched with socialism and we all caught it from him a little. 2013 J. B. White xxi. 151 We are fallible and broken human beings, whose every action and feeling is touched with selfishness. the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > make weak [verb (transitive)] the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (transitive)] > make unstable or unbalanced 1607 E. Grimeston tr. S. Goulart 606 A young girle about eight yeares of age, beeing fallen into a very great trance, remained seauen daies without speaking... The Mother seeing her Daughter so violently toucht in the head [Fr. frappee a la teste], gaue her a suppositarie. 1656 R. Short xiv. 59 Hippocrates where the brain is touched, gives water, or waterish wine. 1704 R. Steele v. 61 Pray mind him not, his Brain is touch'd. the world > action or operation > operation upon something > have effect on [verb (transitive)] the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (transitive)] > influence 1491–2 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1491 §9. m. 4 That the seid acte..in no wise extend to ne touche the warde ne mariage of Henry erle of Essex. 1508 (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii It tuichis myne honour sa neir. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart I. cxv. 136 A thynge..which herafter may sore touche the Countrey of Flaunders. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher ii. ii. 54 His Curses and his blessings Touch me alike: th' are breath I not beleeue in. View more context for this quotation 1795 T. Wilkinson IV. 72 When war touches the pockets of a commercial town, the inhabitants sooner feel their ardour checked for diversions than more thoughtless people. 1882 C. Pebody xxi. 156 Till the publication of penny newspapers a few years ago the position of the Provincial Press was hardly touched. 1969 G. Greene I. 18 When success began to touch oneself too, however mildly, one could only pray that failure would not be held off for too long. 2015 (Nexis) 6 Aug. Drug addiction has touched thousands of local lives. †31. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > caustic or ironic ridicule > ridicule caustically or ironically [verb (transitive)] the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > criticism > criticize [verb (transitive)] > sharply the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > wit with words > sarcasm > assail with sarcasm [verb (transitive)] 1526 W. Bonde iii. sig. CCCiii If we be touched wt a sharpe worde we shall yelde a benigne & gentyll answere. a1529 J. Skelton Agaynst Scottes in (?1545) sig. B Thalya, my Muse, for you also call I To touche them with tauntes of your armony. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus I. Luke x. 92 b The Pharisee beeyng somewhat touched with ye aunswer of our Lorde,..woulde not acknowelage his owne faulte. 1658 A. Cokayne 41 Now I send, desiring those that know Themselves touch'd in these lines away to goe Silent, and mend. 1693 A vj If, therefore any find themselves touch'd, they ought to make a Right Use of it. 1733 A. Pope ii. i. 9 Ev'n those you touch not, hate you. 1831 W. Scott Count Robert ix, in 4th Ser. III. 193 ‘Marry, you touch me there,’ said the centurion. the mind > attention and judgement > testing > accusation, charge > accuse [verb (transitive)] the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > rebuke or reprove [verb (transitive)] 1570 A. Hungerford in H. Hall (1886) 248 Sur Water Hungerfo, and his brother hathe touched me in iij thinges. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1895) II. 474 Gif tha tuouche ouer scharplie, tha be suspected of Jnuious persounis. 1643 A. Wilson 59 He is stung with feare to be touched with Overburies death. a1677 I. Barrow (1678) x. 138 Our Saviour..touched Martha for being troubled about many things. 1845 C. Anthon vii. 252 Skillful to touch with a sharp word vice and empty follies. the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > ability to be perceived by senses > affect the senses [verb (transitive)] 1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder v. xviii. f. xlviiv Whan the mynde is touched with the taste of inwarde swetenes. c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 28 Bright aumbur Þat..smellis full swete With taste for to touche the tabull aboute. 1600 W. Shakespeare v. i. 76 If..any ayre of musique touch their eares. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. i. 55 If the drinke you giue me, touch my Palat aduersly, I make a crooked face at it. View more context for this quotation 1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xiii, in 7 Ring out ye Crystall sphears, Once bless our human ears, (If ye have power to touch our senses so). 1667 J. Milton ix. 987 What of sweet before Hath toucht my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh. View more context for this quotation 1701 tr. J. L. G. de Balzac in 242 Altho' we are one half of France distant from each other, yet you are as present to my Mind, as the very Objects which touch my Eyes. 1822 J. Wilson 20 That bright and noble being had for a time touched her senses, her heart, her soul, and her imagination. 1890 Jan. 566/1 A strong, sweet perfume touched her sense, and stirred her memory. 1917 M. Johnston xii. 254 Every down-drifting rose-leaf, every throb of music touched her senses like a cry of danger. 2012 A. Turczynski 81 The aroma of her favorite mushroom soup touched her senses. the mind > emotion > anger > irritation > irritate [verb (transitive)] the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > be annoyed or vexed by [verb (transitive)] > annoy or vex 1581 in D. Masson (1880) 1st Ser. III. 401 Be the violatioun and brek of the same his Hienes is sumquhat twitchit and offendit unto. a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece (1858) II. l. 27984 As ressone wald, it tuechit him full soir. 1632 H. Hawkins tr. J. Puget de la Serre 50 Who could reckon the maladies of the body, the passions of the Soule, and al the dolours wherwith our life is touched. 1711 J. Addison No. 99. ¶7 Telling a Man he lyes, is touching him in the most sensible part of Honour. 1820 J. Hogg Bridal of Polmood in II. 66 He feared it would be..touching the king upon the sore heel. 1890 June 750/1 Several gentlemen..were frequently unpleasantly touched by her inexhaustible flow of conversation. 1898 J. Arch xi. 257 It was a cruel business and it touched scores and scores of labourers on the raw. 1992 J. Wieland-Burston iii. 49 Whenever Edith is painfully touched by the disappointing contrast between reality and her dreams, she seeks refuge in her diary. Phrases P1. In combination with another verb. See also touch and run n. at Phrases 4. the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > touching > touch [verb (intransitive)] > touch briefly society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > be the author of or write (a work) [verb (transitive)] > present by literary treatment > deal with briefly 1549 H. Latimer sig. Biii As this texte dothe ryse I wyl touche and go, a lytel in euery parte, vntyl I come vnto to muche. 1600 Abp. G. Abbot 446 Therefore it shall be enough for me, now to touch and go. 1771 F. Fleming II. i. 29 Ay, says the captain, he is a good pilot that can touch and go. 1841 Aug. 90 It [sc. a book] expounds no one principle..but ‘touches and goes’ on every subject. 1894 54 If a ship touches and goes, she is not ‘stranded’. 1979 Apr. 18/3 When a ship scrapes over a shoal ground without actually stopping, she is said to ‘touch and go’. 2011 K. K. Wegela v. 53 Instead of touching and going, we hang on. b. to touch and take. 1552 R. Huloet sig. S.vj./2 Lyme fingred, whyche wyll touche and take or carye awaye anye thynge they handle. 1635 R. Brathwait tr. M. Silesio 88 Lime-twigs were Brusons hands, They were but touch and take. 1674 C. Cotton v. 77 What Piece soever of your own you touch or lift from the point whereon it standeth, you must play it..and into what house you set your Man there it must stand for that draught, according to the saying at this Game, Touch and take, out of hand and stand. 1805 Ld. Nelson Let. to J. D. Thomson 5 Sept. in (1911) XXXIX. 395 The Enemy have a shoal of frigates with their fleet and other Small Vessels, which will take their Crippled Ships in Tow. My Motto shall be Touch and Take. 1845 22 Mar. 4/4 The schoolroom rule of ‘touch and take’ is observed pretty generally by members of Parliament. 1996 C. Wallace 24 I reached for a piece of zucchini and discovered that it bore a crescent of small tooth marks. Clearly he hadn't grasped the ‘touch and take’ principle. 1612 J. White 24 They..are too often as wildfier, but touch and take. 1673 J. Flavell xxiii. 301 His own Lusts like dry tinder kindled presently..there was predisposed matter enough for the Devil to work on, so that it was but touch and take. 1793 T. Hastings 40 Our hero laid in a large cargo of fresh fuel, ready to touch and take like phosphorus. P2. Phrases with a particular noun as the object of touch. a. colloquial (originally U.S.). to touch base. 1875 21 July McFarland..touched base and put him out. 1915 7 Sept. 16/2 Norton touched base wrongly. 1947 28 Mar. 13/6 Merkle, after starting towards second, veered to the clubhouse without touching base. 2000 D. W. Anderson ii. 17 Heading for the club-house without touching base after a game-winning hit could be simple self-preservation. 1918 F. Palmer viii. 81 He had touched base at every desk in Headquarters without ever having a chance to discuss the war situation. 1948 4 Nov. 1/6 The Secretary is expected home from Paris soon to touch base with the President. 1968 31 Dec. 45/2 To circumnavigate the globe in non-Anglo-American airships without touching base in the United States and West Europe. 1972 22 July 58 He seems to have touched base with every active group and is not hesitant about judging the sincerity and effectiveness of each. 1992 23 Aug. i. 27/1 We think black folks have a need to touch base with something black. 2013 A. Gibbons xviii. 220 I thought I'd just touch base with you, you know, catch up on things. 1989 R. M. Wilson 111 Me, my bone marrow and my fibrous tissue, we're all touching cloth. 1997 27/1 Touching cloth, the stage immediately after turtles [sic] head..when the stool establishes contact with the undergarments. 2003 C. Lewis 237 Dude, I'm touching cotton..I'll be right back. 2010 (Nexis) 26 Dec. (Sport section) 12 At 16-13 and with 10 minutes to go, the English management would be touching cloth 'til at least the final whistle. the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > respect or show respect [verb (intransitive)] > bare head the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > use formal courtesy in act or expression [verb (intransitive)] > greet > touch cap 1738 D. Neal IV. iii. 132 His Majesty..valued him for his Ingenuity, seldom speaking to him without touching his Hat, which Mr. Vines returned with most respectful Language and Gestures. 1782 F. Burney IV. vii. ix. 130 And, touching his hat, he was riding away. 1820 W. Irving II. 149 Not a stage coach-man..but touches his hat as he passes. 1840 T. C. Haliburton (U.K. ed.) iv. 54 We bow and touch our hats with much formality. 1879 E. J. Simmons (1974) vi. 83 Mr Jones would not like the station master to touch his cap to the Robinsons, and pass him without notice. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ iii. 48 For all I knew he was also expected to touch his cap and show gratitude to whomever paid him. 1956 6 Oct. 413/3 They [sc. scientists] might touch their hats to linguistic analysis, as a relatively honourable way of wasting time. 1974 J. McGahern ii. 170 I waited..watching him count out the last of his change, touch his hat to the woman. 2013 (Nexis) 22 July Courteous and modest, he has tremendous rapport with the crowd, offering his thanks and touching his cap in appreciation whenever he is cheered. 1846 13 Feb. Now do'ee be quiet, Sose, says Cozen Nic, titch pipe a few. 1873 W. Bottrell 2nd Ser. 187 Tom resolved to work on till mornan, and, in about an hour, when his candle was burnt down and he stopped to light another, he sat down to eat the rest of his fuggan and touch pipe a few minutes. 1973 14 Mar. 15/5 So if ever you become peskie-laden and lose yourself in Mineral Point, stop at Pendarvis where you can touch-pipe in the Kiddle-wink. 1998 (Nexis) 7 Apr. 12 'Twas time to touchpipe for a bit, and watch the sun rise over the Mount. society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of wind > avail oneself of a wind [verb (intransitive)] > sail close to the wind > as close as possible 1568 in J. Cranstoun (1891) I. xlvi. 54 Syne treveiss still, and lay abowt, And gar hir top twiche wind and waw. 1627 J. Smith ix. 37 Touch the wind, and warre no more, is..to bid him at the Helme to keepe her so neere the wind as may be. 1692 (new ed.) i. xvi. 76 In keeping the Ship near the Wind, these terms are used..Veer no more,..touch the Wind. 1730 W. Webster tr. P. Hoste III. 177 Touch the wind; that is, keep as close upon the wind as possible. f. to touch wood. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > hiding or chasing game > [verb (intransitive)] > play touch wood 1829 J. T. Brockett (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 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. X. 398 Very frequently in the excitement of the game a boy touches wood and forgets to whistle. the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [verb (intransitive)] > touch wood (for luck) 1898 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 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 (2010) 30 Haven't had neuralgia for three days—touch wood! 1965 C. Beaton Diary in (1979) xxvi. 378 He ran to touch wood. 2015 (Nexis) 7 Oct. 54 Touch wood I've been quite lucky with injuries. P3. Phrases with a prepositional phrase as an adverbial complement. a. to touch to the quick. [Compare Middle French, French toucher au vif to get to the heart of (a matter) (c1470), to affect or move (a person) deeply (1559).] 1563 A. Brooke lxxxix. 249 Men out of theyr wittes are agaste for a litle whyle: yet are they not touched to the quicke. 1643 Earl of Newcastle 137 Lord how these men are touched to the quick, when any man but themselves dare offer to plunder. 1698 T. Gipps 7 These Sober and Charitable Men can be intemperately Angry, when they apprehend themselves touch'd to the quick. 1819 W. Scott Legend of Montrose vi, in 3rd Ser. IV. 120 I am touched to the quick, that I should yesterday..have seemed to infringe on the respect due to such a person as yourself. 1866 1 Feb. He felt..pleased that his God-brother was touched to the quick by his arguments. 1909 (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 4 Mar. 248/1 It is plain he is touched to the quick in the one vulnerable spot, the recollection of his days of wildness. 2015 (Nexis) 7 Feb. Chidambaram and his son have been touched to the quick by the poor man's ‘insulting’ comments. a1566 R. Edwards (1571) Prol. sig. Aij In Commedies, the greatest Skyll is this, rightly to touche All thynges to the quicke. 1620 tr. 3 O brethren, these men about to touch the matter to the quicke. 1744 R. North & M. North 288 For his Girds were oblique, and touched to the quick, but not directly exceptionable. 1856 C. Sumner Let. 18 June in (1896) 137 You touch the question to the quick. 1910 9 294 Some few investigators have touched the matter to the quick. 1842 W. H. Maxwell in 8 Oct. 155/1 He must travel like a gentleman, or they wouldn't touch him with a tent pole. 1868 ‘Old Boomerang’ 72 Bah! She wouldn't touch him with a clothes prop. 1892 I. Zangwill II. ii. i. 253 ‘I wouldn't touch it [sc. a book] with a pitchfork,’ said Miss Cissy Levine. 1956 ‘A. Burgess’ i. 3 Christ, man, I wouldn't touch him with my walking-stick. 2005 (Nexis) 3 July b1 This concept was deemed so untoward that even reality TV wouldn't touch it with a pair of ski gloves. P4. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > hiding or chasing game > [noun] > tag 1844 June 176 Button, button, who's got the button? Touch and run! Are you pleased or displeased? were among the games which served to pass away our time. 1867 Feb. 38/1 At recess the scholars played touch-and-run in the room. 1912 4 Nov. 2/2 The lad was playing ‘touch-and-run’ with a number of others. 1999 (Nexis) 3 Oct. 76 Children played touch and run and giggled for my camera. Phrasal verbs With adverbs in specialized senses. to touch down 1. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > play rugby football [verb (transitive)] > actions to ball 1859 Nov. 62 The ball was regularly driven in by the Eleven and Twenty-two, and touched down by one of them. 1882 20 Nov. 2/8 The Military had..to touch-down several times in self-defence. 1891 (rev. ed.) 35 A Maul in Goal is when the ball is held inside the goal-line and one of the opposing sides endeavours to touch it down. 1934 9 Oct. 7/3 After their back had thought that he had touched the ball down, W. Smith..walked up to the ball and was awarded a try on touching it down. 1960 V. Jenkins viii. 116 A brilliant try by Malcolm Thomas, who ran down the touch-line..before cutting in-field to touch down under the posts. 2006 (Nexis) 4 Apr. 50 No video replays showed Wakefield's Paul White touching the ball down for a try so we can only assume the benefit of the doubt was given to the attacking team. 2014 (Nexis) 24 Feb. Full back Richards touched down for a 22 drop-out. 1877 9 Dec. 8/1 He held onto the ball and touched down for safety amid loud cheers. 1895 20 Oct. 3/4 Thorne broke through the Orange line, and by a splendid dogging run of seventy yards touched down. Letton kicked goal. 1896 W. Camp 24 Any touch-down gives the right to have what is commonly known as a ‘try-at-goal’, which is effected by bringing the ball back into the field, on a line with the point where it was touched down, and making an effort to kick it from any point on this line, over the bar between the goal posts. 1957 20 Nov. In those days the try for point was made on a straight line out from where the ball was touched down. 2. society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (intransitive)] > land 1933 24 July 11/4 I must have brought the machine in so that it touched down farther across the field than I estimated. 1962 8 Feb. 260/2 I send this dove from the ark Where she must never touch down. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. xiv. 369 At 12.45 a.m. Houston time, Apollo 12's lunar module Intrepid touched down on the moon. 1987 L. Godsall Bottriell 48 Just after first light the next morning we touched down at Jan Smuts airport. 2012 V. Flynn xxxvi. 328 As Kennedy watched the plane touch down her mind was swimming with details. society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (transitive)] > land 1935 C. Day Lewis 41 M'Intosh touched her down. 1987 L. Johnston in W. P. Trower ix. 61/2 Luie told the pilot that he should be able to see well enough to touch the plane down. 2011 P. Scearce iv. 60 The pilot touched the plane down. 1952 4 Mar. 1/2 The funnel of another tornado touched down about 20 miles south of Birmingham, Ala., on the Montgomery highway. 1979 1 Apr. e9/1 14 persons were injured when a tornado touched down near Glasgow, Ky. 2012 C. Waters ix. 91 Maybe a tornado would touch down and they'd have to evacuate the school. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > [verb (transitive)] > modify or insert detail ?1770 C. Bowles viii. 46 In colouring Trees, Boughs, and Branches, touch in all the dark Shades first. 1871 Oct. 615 The dry leaves in the hedges..may be touched in with burnt sienna. 1892 II. 262 Touching in as small a portion of top edge as possible. 1958 14 Aug. 251/2 If the patches are touched in with primer and undercoat you will not run into any trouble. 2009 47 161/2 The sheets in Berlin are touched in with the red wash that Gillot so often used. 2007 11 Apr. (Extra section) 10/2 Balances and ticket data are held electronically on the card, and users ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’ on card readers to pay for their journeys. 2012 (Nexis) 3 Jan. 1 Commuters may well check their Go Card balance twice as they touch in on their way to work this morning. 2015 (Nexis) 30 June 19 Passengers can touch in and out using their travel cards on special readers at the start and end of their tram journeys, instead of carrying cash or buying tickets on the go. society > communication > representation > [verb (transitive)] > successfully the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > evaluation, estimation, appraisal > appraise, estimate [verb (transitive)] > take the measure of 1694 tr. R. Rapin vii. 135 That portraicture is so singular, in all the features that compose it, that whether it is like nothing, or whether it resembles its original, all is touch'd off [Fr. touché] with an admirable Air. 1759 O. Goldsmith in 13 Oct. 14 I was [told]..that I should now see something touched off to a nicety, for Mr. Spriggins was going to give us Mad Tom in all his glory. 1766 O. Goldsmith I. xii. 118 I knew you would touch them off. 1801 18 Sept. What artist would presume to say, he had given even an outline or sketch of a face, when he had only touched off the nose and chin. 1822 26 May 330/2 The final reconciliation with Violante was also touched off with admirable naiveté and feeling. 1896 9 May 8/6 Quinn got a single in centre and Connor touched off a triple in right centre. 1904 H. O. Sturgis x. 138 He's touched the old duchess off to the life, even to the colour of the gowns she wore at dinner. 1932 Dec. 333/2 El Camino Real, Death Valley, and other glamorous places are touched off by the pen of a newspaper man who knows how to get the most out of any situation. 1962 30 Aug. 13/5 Philip of Spain is touched off with ‘cane-coloured hair and beard’. 1986 24 Sept. 25/2 The succession of serious moods (which surely includes the lyricism of the tenor's ‘Cujus animam’) touched off with such mastery. 2. transitive. society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > operate (artillery) [verb (transitive)] > discharge (artillery) 1725 B. Grosvenor 31 Grant that I may..touch them [sc. 36 Barrels of Gunpowder] off with the Courage as may be most pleasing to thee. 1820 B. Silliman 286 He got the iron rods, which they used to touch off the cannon, heated them, and fired the pieces. 1882 13 Oct. 278/4 The fire alarm in the Washburn C mill was in some accidental manner touched off Monday forenoon. 1896 Jan. 362/2 With admirable celerity he touched off two of the bombs. 1907 6 Dec. 7/3 The only delay..is due to a fear that a dispatch of the troops will touch off the magazine. 1939 G. Heyer xvi. 315 ‘What's that thing called that they use in mines when they want to blast? Electrical thing they touch off the dynamite with?’ ‘A shot-firer, do you mean?’ 1950 26 Oct. 32/2 One of the directors..picked up a pair of pliers, twisted a wire and touched off the trap with a pencil. 2010 4 Sept. 44/1 The best theory is that they touched off a mine or their demolition charges exploded. the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > burn or consume by fire [verb (transitive)] > set on fire the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > burn or consume by fire [verb (transitive)] > kindle or set alight 1759 B. Martin I. iii. vi. 311 You may touch off the Spark as soon as you please. 1875 7 Jan. 8/2 Susceptible even of being touched off by the tooth of a mouse, the hand of an infant..these ubiquitous incendiaries [sc. matches] are doing their destructive work all over the country. 1892 19 Nov. 1/7 Two of Farmer Beetles' children found a match and touched off a stack of straw. 1918 179 There had not been a proper payment for the services of one of them in touching off a fire. 1968 28 Feb. 16/8 A welding apparatus touched off a spark in the printing shop which ignited oily paper and oil. 2013 (Nexis) 20 Nov. If the batteries are damaged, that can cause arcing and sparks and touch off a fire. the world > existence and causation > causation > [verb (transitive)] > trigger or spark 1842 15 Apr. 2/2 The magnificent bombshell, rammed full of pride, aristocracy,..soft-soap, curiosity, folly, display, nonsense, man-worship and small-talk, was touched off. 1900 22 June 1/4 His closing period, declaring that Roosevelt's choice would be unanimous, touched off a whirlwind of excitement. 1958 29 Nov. 813/1 The Bundestag declaration has touched off a chain-reaction of inquiry, proposal, examination, plan. 2013 25 Feb. 40/2 The suicide, not the first attributable to an imminent eviction.., touched off weeks of protests around the country. 1970 9 June 16/4 Folk Song touched off Bijou Boy close to home in the Dartford Maiden Stakes. 1982 8 June 15/6 Admiral's Princess..had previously touched off Celestial Dancer in Newmarket's Holsten Diet Handicap. 2014 25 Mar. 45 Odeliz was touched off by a potentially top-class rival at the Curragh on the opening day of the Irish Flat season. 1831 A. Parsey 158 Touch out the lighter parts of the ground in the direction they may occur. 1879 (new ed.) IV. 71/2 Tools..for fancy work, and for touching out corners difficult of access. 1941 2 310 Those older men saw to it that the public for which they wrote should see only the fair side of their subjects..the medals were always displayed, but the warts were carefully touched out. 1965 27 252 The awkward juncture has been skilfully but not completely, touched out by the restorer. 1979 29 226 A smaller drill..touched out the tear ducts. 2003 (Nexis) 31 Mar. 15 [Queen Victoria's] photographers, were not above slimming her stately figure, touching out her double chins or increasing her height by making her stand on a box for official photographs. 2007 11 Apr. (Extra section) 10/2 Balances and ticket data are held electronically on the card, and users ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’ on card readers to pay for their journeys. 2013 (Nexis) 8 Nov. 9 All passengers holding a valid Pop card or smart Gold Card will be asked to ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’ each time they enter or exit the Metro system. 2015 (Nexis) 14 Aug. 59 Passengers should touch their contactless payment card or device on the yellow card reader at the start of their journey and touch out again at the end. the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > with slight or fresh touches 1656 J. Harrington 170 He would have touched up his admirable work unto that perfection, which, as to the civil part, hath no pattern in the universall World, but this of Venice. 1715 J. Addison No. 44. ⁋3 What he saw was..her natural Countenance, touched up with the usual Improvements of an aged Coquette. 1748 (Royal Soc.) 45 173 All the illuminated Sets were..touch'd up and finish'd by his own Hand. 1860 W. M. Thackeray Screens in Dining-rooms in (1869) 59 Suppose the Editor..never ‘touched up’ one single line of the contribution. 1891 at Stuff A composition of the ashes of cork, ivory-black, and gall with treacle, made into a ball, and used with water for touching up the dark parts of the plate. 1944 J. B. Parry in R. Greenhalgh viii. 282/2 Alabastine filler..should afterwards be smoothed down with glass-paper and excessive absorption checked by touching-up with paint. 1992 17 Aug. a8/1 This time, he does not have the help of Peggy Noonan, his super-speechwriter, to touch up his prose. 2013 (Nexis) 1 Nov. She puts on her sparkliest top, touches up her make-up and heads to a flourishing singles' nights scene. the mind > emotion > love > action of caressing > caress [verb (transitive)] > caress in order to excite sexually the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with > specifically of a man 1785 F. Grose To touch up a woman, to have carnal knowledge of her. 1903 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley VII. ii. 177/2 Touch... verb... (or to touch up), to grope a woman. 1958 L. Little (1960) i. iv. 30 Old Willie wanting to touch you up when his missus was out of the way. 1973 C. Egleton iv. 48 Good-looking tart... I wouldn't have minded her touching me up. 2015 (Nexis) 15 Aug. She claims he once touched her up. 3. transitive. society > authority > power > influence > have influence with [verb (transitive)] > exert influence upon 1791 (House of Commons) 39 One or two white drivers who have only sticks to lean on..direct the black drivers to touch up those [slaves] they think remiss. 1810 35 34 (Single Stick) Maslen set to with great confidence, sharply touching up the right arm of his antagonist. 1839 C. Dickens xxxii. 307 He let out his whip-lash and touched up a little boy on the calves of his legs. 1844 J. H. Carleton 30 Aug. (1983) 93 This officer would slyly touch up the horses, when off they would start. 1902 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ viii. 112 She touched up the ponies, and brought them over the bridge..at a great pace. 1951 S. H. Bell i. viii. 60 ‘Did she lay the table?’ Martha asked. ‘I didna pay any heed,’ answered Hamilton, touching up the horse. the mind > mental capacity > memory > reminder, putting in mind > remind [verb (transitive)] the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > have an effect on [verb (transitive)] the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)] the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)] 1796 T. Morton iii. iii. 61 You will make the affidavit, and I will touch him up with a bit of a capias. 1811 J. Austen III. iv. 88 We must touch up the Colonel to do something to the parsonage. View more context for this quotation 1846 C. Dickens 28 Mar. (1977) IV. 528 I hope you mean to go to the General Theatrical Fund Dinner on Monday Week... Let me know, that I may touch up the Committee to place you near me. c1863 T. Taylor in M. R. Booth (1969) II. 140 The roughs adore music..and as for sentiment and sensation, if you could hear Miss St. Evremond touch them up with the ‘Maniac's Tear’, the new sensation ballad [etc.]. 1884 E. W. Hamilton 10 Mar. (1972) II. 573 Slavery is a matter which specially touches up the British public. 1923 M. Garvey II. 112 Some people sleep too soundly, when it comes to a question of human rights, and you have to touch them up with something more than our ordinary human voice. 1968 27 Sept. 23/1 I just wanted to touch them up a little bit. Even now when a man writes something I think is really unjust, he hears from me. Compounds 1777 T. Swift i. 221 Now sounds the Grill; 'tis Setts, and Touch-no-wall, And Chaces echo thro' the lattic'd Hall. 1878 J. Marshall 160 Touch-no-walls, or All-the-walls: a point of cramped-odds, by which the giver of the odds loses a stroke whenever a ball, returned by him, touches a wall or a gallery-post, or enters an opening, before falling on the floor. 1903 E. Miles xxxii. 220 ‘Touch-no-walls’ is the severest of the Handicaps. 2001 P. Seddon 16 The Comte de Reignac..agreed to receive a handicap peculiar to Real Tennis called ‘touch no walls’. 1778 W. Pryce 178 [The miners] have a touch-pipe, that is, rest..half an hour to smoke a pipe. 1897 Nov. 24/2 The adult male population of Porthvean was enjoying its evening ‘touch pipe’ in what served as the town-place. 1914 W. Glover 15 ‘A change of work,’ says the Cornish proverb, ‘is as good as a touchpipe.’ This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  n.a1325v.c1300 |
