Meaning of touch in English

touch

verb

/tʌtʃ/ us

/tʌtʃ/

touch verb (PUT HAND ON)

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B1 [ I or T ]

to put your hand or another part of your body lightly onto and off something or someone:

That paint is wet - don't touch (it).

touch someone on something He touched the girl on the arm to get her attention.

touch something with something The boy touched the worm with (= using, in his hand) a twig.

figurative The setting sun touched the trees with red (= made them appear red for a short time).

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Don't touch the machine when it's in use.
The water's not deep here - look, I can touch the bottom.
I could feel myself tense up as he touched my neck.
A new baby will automatically curl its fingers round any object it touches.
"You're burning up!" she said, touching his forehead.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Touching & feeling

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touch verb (BE CLOSE TOGETHER)

B2 [ I or T ]

(of two or more things) to be so close together that there is no space between; to be in contact:

He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

She pushed the two bookcases together until they touched/were touching.

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Connecting and combining

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touch verb (HARM/DAMAGE)

to harm someone, or use or damage something:

Please don't touch any of my stuff while I'm away.

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Damaging and spoiling

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touch verb (EAT/DRINK)

[ T ] informal

(usually used in negative sentences) to eat or drink something:

They didn't touch any of the food we left for them.

touch a drop Honestly, I haven't touched a drop (= drunk any alcohol) all night.

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Abstaining and refraining

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touch verb (INFLUENCE)

[ T ]

to influence someone or something emotionally, or cause feelings of sympathy in someone:

Tragedy touched their lives when their son was 16.

The TV report about the children's work for charity touched thousands of people's hearts.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to have power to cause a change in someone or something

affectLow-income women were disproportionately affected by the legislation.
influenceThe jury could have been influenced by all the media coverage surrounding the case.
be/fall under someone's influence/spellThe young queen seemed to fall under the spell of her counsellor, believing everything he told her.
be under someone's spellWe warned her about him, but all he had to do was turn on the charm and she was under his spell.
guideHe is guided by the core beliefs of his religion.
impactSevere storms will impact on travel across the region tonight.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Making people sad, shocked and upset

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touch verb (BE AS GOOD)

[ T ]

(usually used in negative sentences) to have or reach the same standard (= level of quality) as someone or something:

can't touch Her novels can't touch (= are not as good as) those of her sister.

there's no one to touch someone as something There's no one to touch him as an illustrator of children's books.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Worse and worst

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Idioms

touch base
touch wood
touch/strike/hit a (raw) nerve
sb wouldn't touch something/someone with a bargepole/barge pole

Phrasal verbs

touch down
touch (something) down
touch in
touch something in
touch something off
touch on/upon something
touch out
touch something up
touch someone up

touch

noun

/tʌtʃ/ us

/tʌtʃ/

touch noun (SMALL AMOUNT)

C2 [ S ]

a small amount:

a touch "Would you like milk?" "Just a touch."

touch of There was a touch of irony/humour in her voice.

[ S ] informal

To show that an illness is not too serious, you can say you have had a touch of it:

I had a touch of flu/hay fever.

C2 [ C ]

a small addition or detail that makes something better:

The speech had several comic touches.

touch of genius Using a sailing ship as the company logo was a touch of genius (= a good/clever idea or action).

finishing touch The flowers on the table provided the finishing touch.

a touch

slightly:

The weather has turned a touch too cold for my liking.

For me, the first course was just a touch bland.

It's a touch ironic.

It seems a touch premature to start celebrating now.

The meat was a touch overcooked.

Isn't that a touch hypocritical?

She talks, perhaps a touch optimistically, about retiring by the age of 35.

More examplesFewer examples

There was so much publicity and hype beforehand, that the performance itself was a touch anticlimactic.
There was a touch of frost on the hills.
Add just a touch of cream to the mixture.
His work has a touch of pathos.
The gold decoration will add a touch of class.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Words meaning small pieces and amounts

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Disease & illness - general words

Also, extra, and in addition

Some and quite

touch noun (FEELING)

B2 [ U ]

the ability to know what something is like by feeling it with the fingers:

the sense of touch

by touch I found the right coin in the dark by touch.

to the touch B2 (also to your touch)

used after an adjective to express how something feels when you put your hand on it:

The material was soft to the touch.

More examplesFewer examples

Although snakes look slimy their skin is actually dry to the touch.
I felt a gentle touch on my arm.
I can control the doors at the touch of a switch.
Her skin was icy to the touch.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

The senses in general

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touch noun (MOVEMENT ONTO/OFF)

B2 [ C usually singular ]

a quick, light movement of one thing, especially a hand, onto and off another thing:

I felt a cold touch on my arm.

touch of At a/the touch of a button, the door opened.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Touching & feeling

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touch noun (COMMUNICATION)

be, get, keep, etc. in touch

to communicate or continue to communicate with someone by using a phone or writing to them:

Are you still in touch with any of your old school friends?

lose touch

to stop communicating with someone, usually because they do not live near you now:

We lost touch over the years.

touch noun (ABILITY)

[ S or U ]

an ability to do things in the stated, especially positive, way:

He has a deft touch with tricky painting jobs.

She gave the job her own special/magic/professional/personal touch.

I admire her lightness/sureness of touch as a cook.

lose your touch He used to be a good writer but I think he's losing his touch.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Skill, talent and ability

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touch noun (BALL CONTROL)

[ C or U ]

in sports such as football, a player's ability to control the ball and make it do what they want, or an occasion when a player controls the ball with their foot:

Salah squandered the chance to score when his touch let him down in front of goal.

Hazard took several touches before crossing.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Football/soccer

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touch noun (SPORT)

[ U ]

the area outside either of the long edges of the space on which football, rugby, and other sports are played:

into touch Playing for safety, he kicked the ball into touch.

in touch He clearly catches the ball with both feet in touch.

See also

touchline

More examplesFewer examples

A quick lineout can be taken behind where the ball went into touch.
Twice the home side opted to kick penalties into touch.
The next time the ball is in touch, it's game over.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Surfaces on which sports take place

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touch noun (KNOWLEDGE)

be in/out of touch

If you are in touch/out of touch with a subject, activity, or situation, your knowledge about it is recent/not recent:

He's not really in touch with what young people are interested in.

(Definition of touch from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

touch | American Dictionary

touch

verb

/tʌtʃ/

touch verb (USE FINGERS)

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[ I/T ]

to put the fingers or hand lightly on or against something:

[ I ] That paint is wet, so don’t touch.

[ I/T ]

infml If you cannot touch something, you are not allowed to have or use it:

[ T ] She can’t touch the money from her father until she’s 21.

[ I/T ]

infml If you say you do not touch something, you mean that you do not drink or eat it:

[ T ] I never touch candy.

touch verb (BE CLOSE)

[ I/T ]

to be so close together that there is no space between:

[ T ] Don’t let the back of the chair touch the wall.

[ I ] Push the bookcases together until they touch.

[ I/T ]

If one thing does not touch something similar, it is not as good as the other thing:

[ T ] Her cooking can’t touch her sister’s.

touch verb (CAUSE FEELINGS)

[ T ]

to cause someone to feel sympathetic or grateful:

Your kindness has touched my family.

Idioms

touch base (with someone)

someone wouldn't touch something with a ten-foot pole

Phrasal verbs

touch down
touch off something
touch on something
touch up something

touch

noun

/tʌtʃ/

touch noun (SKILL)

[ U ]

a skill or special quality:

He seems to be losing his touch at poker.

The flowers were a nice touch.

touch noun (SMALL AMOUNT)

[ C ]

a small amount:

There was a touch of regret in her voice.

I had a touch of flu yesterday.

touch noun (BEING CLOSE)

[ U ]

the state of being close together or in contact with someone or something

touch noun (FEELING WITH FINGERS )

[ C/U ]

the ability to know what something is like by putting your hand or fingers on it:

[ U ] This cloth is soft to the touch.

[ C/U ]

A touch is an act of putting your hand or fingers briefly on something to operate it:

[ C ] At a touch of the button, the door opened.

Idioms

in touch (with someone)

in touch (with something)

(Definition of touch from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

touch | Business English

touch

verb [ I or T ]

/tʌtʃ/ us

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to put your fingers or hand lightly on the surface of something:

Don't touch the machine when it's in use.

nobody/nothing can touch sb/sth

used to say that someone or something is the best of a particular kind:

As a hard worker, no one can touch him.

This computer is so powerful, no other laptop can touch it.

touch base

to talk with someone for a short time:

He wants to touch base on some of the significant items that we've been dealing with.

Phrasal verbs

touch on/upon sth

touch sth up

touch

noun

/tʌtʃ/ us

[ C ]

a small addition or detail which makes something better:

Adding music to your presentation was a nice touch.

I am just putting the finishing touches to my monthly report.

in touch

communicating or continuing to communicate with someone by phone, email, etc.:

get/keep/stay in touch (with sb) We need to get in touch with our suppliers right away.

Let's keep in touch over the next few days while the installation is in progress.

aware of what is happening:

in touch with sth It's very important to stay in touch with the practices of other employers in the city.

(Definition of touch from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of touch

touch

In eighty-four pages he manages to touch on every crucial point surrounding this quarrel.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The book is quite valuable for touching on so many relevant themes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Ultimately, though, corpus-based empiricism must not lose touch with the theoretical linguistic tradition in the study of linguistic change.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In any case, there is a touch of arrogance to the view that a visiting scholar sees ' rationality ' where no one else sees it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Their stereognosis (the capacity to perceive volumes) is due only to the sense of touch.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We were deeply touched that you cared enough to ask us about what we wanted and why we wanted it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A series of yes/no questions for a telephony application, for instance, may just as well be implemented using touch-tone input.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The relationships encoded in the interface must then be explored physically, developing the 'touch' of the virtual instrument.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There is no research work on the touch sensor which can be set easily at the tip of the pipette.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Leaving aside the possibility that these claims are hyperbolic, the book touches on issues of growing importance for research, policy and practice in children's services.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This massive two-volume tome exerted huge influence on nearly all areas touching upon civil rights up to twenty years after its original publication.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This physically demanding process took place throughout the performance so that, while in character, none of the performers' feet touched the ground.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Plants did not touch each other and were placed in trays filled with water to prevent insects from moving between plants.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Similar uses would allow business people a simple way of exchanging business and product information by just shaking hands or touching information documents or files.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Responses among neonatologists touched briefly on the issue of viability, but were remarkably less conflicted on the surface.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of touch

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with touch

touch

These are words often used in combination with touch.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

capacitive touch

Capacitive touch screens don't require applying any force to their surfaces, which makes them easier to use in some respects.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

final touch

The final touch is a topping of parsley.

From

Wikipedia

This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.

finishing touch

A few red roses on the white tablecloth give a finishing touch.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with touch

What is the pronunciation of touch?

Translations of touch

in Chinese (Traditional)

觸摸, 碰，觸摸, 靠在一起…

in Chinese (Simplified)

触摸, 碰，触摸, 靠在一起…

in Spanish

tocar, tocarse, comer…

in Portuguese

tocar, mexer em, tocar-se…

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in Italian

हात लावणे, स्पर्श, हानी पोहोचवणे…

～に触る, 触れる, 接する…

dokunmak, el sürmek, değmek…

toucher, (se) toucher, être en contact…

tocar, tocar-se, emocionar…

(aan)raken, aanraken, raken…

உங்கள் கையை அல்லது உங்கள் உடலின் மற்றொரு பகுதியை லேசாக ஏதோ ஒன்றின் அல்லது யாரோ ஒருவரின் மீது வைக்க, (இரண்டு அல்லது அதற்கு மேற்பட்ட விஷயங்களில்) இடையில் இடைவெளி இல்லாத அளவுக்கு நெருக்கமாக இருக்க வேண்டும், தொடர்பில் இருக்க வேண்டும்…

(किसी व्यक्ति या वस्तु को) छूना, स्पर्श करना, (दो या अधिक चीज़ों का) संपर्क होना…

સ્પર્શ કરવો, સંપર્ક (બે અથવા વધુ વસ્તુઓનો), નુકસાન પહોંચાડવું…

røre, berøre, bevæge…

röra [vid], vidröra, röra vid…

bersentuhan, menyentuh, tersentuh…

(sich) berühren, berühren, anrühren…