touch

Etymology

From Middle English touchen, tochen, from Old French tochier (“to touch”) (whence Modern French toucher; compare French doublet toquer (“to offend, bother, harass”)), from Vulgar Latin *tuccō (“to knock, strike, offend”), from Frankish *tukkōn (“to knock, strike, touch”), from Proto-Germanic *tukkōną (“to tug, grab, grasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull, lead”). Displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine). cognates Cognate with Old High German zochhōn, zuhhōn (“to grasp, take, seize, snatch”) (whence German zucken (“to jerk, flinch”)), German Low German tucken, tocken (“to fidget, twitch, pull up, entice, throb, knock, repeatedly tap”), Middle Dutch tocken, tucken (“to touch, entice”) (whence Dutch tokkelen (“to strum, pluck”)), Old English tucian, tūcian (“to disturb, mistreat”) (whence Modern English tuck). Compare also Old High German tokkōn, tockōn (“to abut, collide”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Albanian cek (“to touch”), Old Church Slavonic тъкнѫти (tŭknǫti). More at tuck, take.

verb

1. Primarily physical senses.
   1. (transitive) To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
      I touched his face softly.
   2. (transitive) To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
      Sitting on the bench, the hem of her skirt touched the ground.
   3. (intransitive) To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
      They stood next to each other, their shoulders touching.
   4. (intransitive) To make physical contact with a thing.
      Please can I have a look, if I promise not to touch?
   5. (transitive) To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
      If you touch her, I'll kill you.
   6. (transitive) To make intimate physical contact with a person.
      The man was arrested for touching a girl without her consent.
   7. (transitive or reflexive) To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate.
      Her parents had caught her touching herself when she was fifteen.
   8. (transitive) To cause to be briefly in contact with something.
      He quickly touched his knee to the worn marble.
      The demonstrator nearly touched the rod on the ball.
      She touched her lips to the glass.
   9. (transitive) To physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
      Frankly, this wood's so strong that sandpaper won't touch it.
   10. (transitive) To consume, or otherwise use.
       Are you all right? You've hardly touched your lunch.
       But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either. 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
   11. (intransitive) Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at).
   12. (transitive, now historical) To lay hands on (someone suffering from scrofula) as a form of cure, as formerly practised by English and French monarchs.
       But in fact the English kings of the seventeenth century usually began to touch form the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration. 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 189
   13. (intransitive, obsolete) To fasten; to take effect; to make impression.
   14. (nautical) To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
   15. (intransitive, nautical) To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
   16. (nautical) To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible.
       to touch the wind
2. Primarily non-physical senses.
   1. (transitive) To imbue or endow with a specific quality.
      My grandfather, as many people know, was touched with greatness.
   2. (transitive, archaic) To deal with in speech or writing; to mention briefly, to allude to.
      Next to sorrow still I may annex such accidents as procure fear; for besides those terrors which I have before touched, […] there is a superstitious fear […] which much trouble many of us. , I.2.4.vii
   3. (intransitive) To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on or upon something).
   4. (transitive) To concern, to have to do with.
      And now it seemed he was engaged in something which touched them closely, but must be hidden from their knowledge. 1919, Saki, ‘The Penance’, The Toys of Peace, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), page 423
   5. (transitive) To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in.
      Stefan was touched by the song's message of hope.
   6. (transitive, dated) To affect in a negative way, especially only slightly.
      He had been drinking over lunch, and was clearly touched.
   7. (transitive, Scottish history) To give royal assent to by touching it with the sceptre.
      The bill was finally touched after many hours of deliberation.
   8. (transitive, slang) To obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend).
      I was running short, so I touched old Bertie for a fiver.
   9. (transitive, always passive) To disturb the mental functions of; to make somewhat insane; often followed with "in the head".
      You must be touched if you think I'm taking your advice.
   10. (transitive, in negative constructions) To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality.
       There was his mistress, Maria Morano. I don't think I've ever seen anything to touch her, and when you work for the screen [as I do] you're apt to have a pretty exacting standard of female beauty. 1928, Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers”, in Lord Peter Views the Body
       'Lind Arden was a great genius, one of the greatest tragic actresses in the world. As Lady Macbeth, as Magda, there was no one to touch her.' 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 6, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 118
   11. (transitive) To come close to; to approach.
       On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%. July 15 2012, Richard Williams, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track, Guardian Unlimited
   12. (transitive, computing) To mark (a file or document) as having been modified.
3. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
4. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
5. (obsolete) To infect; to affect slightly.
6. To strike; to manipulate; to play on.
   to touch an instrument of music
7. To perform, as a tune; to play.
8. To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.

noun

1. An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
   Suddenly, in the crowd, I felt a touch at my shoulder.
2. The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
   With the lights out, she had to rely on touch to find her desk.
3. The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument.
   He performed one of Ravel's piano concertos with a wonderfully light and playful touch.
4. (music) The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers.
   a heavy touch, or a light touch
5. A distinguishing feature or characteristic.
   Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.
6. A little bit; a small amount.
   Move it left just a touch and it will be perfect.
   I'd like to see a touch more enthusiasm in the project.
   In another example, there are a few touches of white above the eye, and a white postocular stripe, which becomes quite broad where it terminates on the side of the neck. 1886, “The Masked Bob-white (Colinus ridgewayi) of Arizona, and its Allies”, in Joel Asaph Allen, editor, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, page 282
   We had looked forward to four or five days' work in Ying-shan similar to that in Yün-mung, but at the end of our two days' walk from the one city to the other (they lie more than fifty miles apart), Mr. Terrell had a touch of fever, so we judged it best to remain in Ying-shan only for a day and then travel as quickly as possible by chair to Teh-ngan to consult our good friend, Dr. Morley, of the Wesleyan Mission Hospital in that city, and from thence take boat for Hankow.... 1894, “From Month to Month”, in The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society, number 33, Readers Union, →OCLC, page 220
7. The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
   He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch.
8. A relationship of close communication or understanding.
   He promised to keep in touch while he was away.
   lose touch
9. The ability to perform a task well; aptitude.
   I used to be a great chess player but I've lost my touch.
   Rovers' hopes of pulling off one of the great European shocks of all time lasted just 10 minutes before Spurs finally found their scoring touch. September 29, 2011, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport
10. (obsolete) Act or power of exciting emotion.
11. (obsolete) An emotion or affection.
12. (obsolete) Personal reference or application.
13. A single stroke on a drawing or a picture.
    Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design. 1695, John Dryden, The Art of Painting
14. (obsolete) A brief essay.
    Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch. 1713, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction, Jonathan Swift
15. (obsolete) A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone.
16. (obsolete) Examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality.
17. (shipbuilding) The broadest part of a plank worked top and but, or of one worked anchor-stock fashion (that is, tapered from the middle to both ends); also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters.
    Set off the exact Length forward and aftward from the Observation of the rising of the Keel, by Shipwrights called the Touch, or Place where the Keel's upper Part ends to be streight. 1711, William Sutherland, The Ship-Builder's Assistant
18. The children's game of tag.
19. (bell-ringing) A set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, i.e. less than 5,040.
20. (slang) An act of borrowing or stealing something; a request for money.
21. (slang) The extent to which a person is interested or affected; the amount of outlay on something.
    Such was Tim Whiffle on the Sunday, with the addition of a cane to indicate riding, it is true he had long had a penchant to a pair of spurs but did not as yet sport them, although a half crown touch at some livery stables was positively decided upon in his own mind, though hitherto the dread of a fall from a horse had prevented the execution of his magnanimous plan. 1804, William Henry Ireland, The Woman of Feeling, volume 2, page 232
22. (UK, plumbing, dated) Tallow.
23. Form; standard of performance.
    2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round seven? Australian Football League, 30 April 2019. Accessed 6 May 2019. Jackson Hately, Isaac Cumming and Nick Shipley have been in great touch in the NEAFL.
24. (Australian rules football) A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball.
    2019 In the mix: Who's pushing for selection for round seven? Australian Football League, 30 April 2019. Accessed 6 May 2019. With just six touches, small forward Daniel Rioli was uncharacteristically quiet against Melbourne, although he did lay five tackles.