Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - touch

(touches, touching, touched) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you touch something, you put your hand onto it in order to feel it or to make contact with it. Her tiny hands gently touched my face... The virus is not passed on through touching or shaking hands. VERB: V n, V-ing • Touch is also a noun. Sometimes even a light touch on the face is enough to trigger off this pain. N-COUNT: usu sing 2. If two things are touching, or if one thing touches another, or if you touch two things, their surfaces come into contact with each other. Their knees were touching ... A cyclist crashed when he touched wheels with another rider... If my arm touches the wall, it has to be washed again... In some countries people stand close enough to touch elbows... He touched the cow’s side with his stick. V-RECIP: pl-n V, V pl-n with n, V n, V pl-n, V n with n 3. Your sense of touch is your ability to tell what something is like when you feel it with your hands. The evidence suggests that our sense of touch is programmed to diminish with age. N-UNCOUNT 4. To touch something means to strike it, usually quite gently. As the aeroplane went down the runway the wing touched a pile of rubble. VERB: V n 5. If something has not been touched, nobody has dealt with it or taken care of it. When John began to restore the house in the 1960s, nothing had been touched for 40 years. VERB: usu passive, with brd-neg, be V-ed 6. If you say that you did not touch someone or something, you are emphasizing that you did not attack, harm or destroy them, especially when you have been accused of doing so. Pearce remained adamant, saying ‘I didn’t touch him’... I was in the garden. I never touched the sandwiches. VERB: with brd-neg, V n, V n c darkgreen]emphasis 7. You say that you never touch something or that you have not touched something for a long time to emphasize that you never use it, or you have not used it for a long time. He doesn’t drink much and doesn’t touch drugs... VERB: no passive, with brd-neg, V n c darkgreen]emphasis 8. If you touch on a particular subject or problem, you mention it or write briefly about it. The film touches on these issues, but only superficially... VERB: V on/upon n 9. If something touches you, it affects you in some way for a short time. ...a guilt that in some sense touches everyone... VERB: V n 10. If something that someone says or does touches you, it affects you emotionally, often because you see that they are suffering a lot or that they are being very kind. It has touched me deeply to see how these people live... Her enthusiasm touched me. = move VERB: it V n to-inf, V n • touched I was touched to find that he regards me as engaging... ADJ: v-link ADJ 11. If something is touched with a particular quality, it has a certain amount of that quality. (WRITTEN) His crinkly hair was touched with grey... The boy was touched with genius. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed with n, be V-ed with n 12. If you say about someone that nobody can touch him or her for a particular thing, you mean that he or she is much better at it than anyone else. No one can touch these girls for professionalism. VERB: no cont, no passive, with brd-neg, V n for n, also V n 13. To touch a particular level, amount, or score, especially a high one, means to reach it. (mainly BRIT) By the third lap Kinkead had touched 289 m.p.h. VERB: no passive, V n 14. A touch is a detail which is added to something to improve it. They called the event ‘a tribute to heroes’, which was a nice touch... N-COUNT: supp N 15. If someone has a particular kind of touch, they have a particular way of doing something. The dishes he produces all have a personal touch... N-SING: with supp 16. A touch of something is a very small amount of it. She thought she just had a touch of flu... QUANT: QUANT of n-uncount 17. You can use a touch to mean slightly or to a small extent, especially in order to make something you say seem less extreme. For example, if you say that something is a touch expensive, you might really think that it is very expensive. (mainly BRIT) We were all a touch uneasy, I think... I found it a touch distasteful. = a bit PHRASE: PHR adj/adv/prep c darkgreen]vagueness 18. see also touching 19. You use at the touch of in expressions such as at the touch of a button and at the touch of a key to indicate that something is possible by simply touching a switch or one of the keys of a keyboard. Staff will be able to trace calls at the touch of a button. PHRASE: PHR n, usu PHR after v 20. If you say that someone has the common touch, you mean that they have the natural ability to have a good relationship with ordinary people and be popular with them. PHRASE: usu PHR after v c darkgreen]approval 21. If you get in touch with someone, you contact them by writing to them or telephoning them. If you are, keep, or stay in touch with them, you write, phone, or visit each other regularly. The organisation would be in touch with him tomorrow... PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR, usu PHR with n 22. If you are in touch with a subject or situation, or if someone keeps you in touch with it, you know the latest news or information about it. If you are out of touch with it, you do not know the latest news or information about it. ...keeping the unemployed in touch with the labour market... Mr Cavazos’ problem was that he was out of touch. PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR, usu PHR with n 23. If you lose touch with someone, you gradually stop writing, telephoning, or visiting them. In my job one tends to lose touch with friends... PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR 24. If you lose touch with something, you no longer have the latest news or information about it. Their leaders have lost touch with what is happening in the country. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR with n 25. If you say that something is touch and go, you mean that you are uncertain whether it will happen or succeed. It was touch and go whether we’d go bankrupt. PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR wh 26. If you say that someone is a soft touch or an easy touch, you mean that they can easily be persuaded to lend you money or to do things for you. (INFORMAL) Pamela was an easy touch when she needed some cash. PHRASE: v-link PHR 27. would not touch someone or something with a barge pole: see barge pole the finishing touch: see finish touch wood: see wood