touch
Meanings
- Primarily physical senses.
- To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
- To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
- To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
- To make physical contact with a thing.
- To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
- To make intimate physical contact with a person.
- To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate.
- To have sexual intercourse with
- To cause to be briefly in physical contact with something.
- To physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
- To begin to consume, or otherwise use.
- An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
- The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
- The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument.
- The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers.
- A distinguishing feature or characteristic.
- A little bit; a small amount.
- The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
- A relationship of close communication or understanding.
- The ability to perform a task well; aptitude.
- Act or power of exciting emotion.
- An emotion or affection.
- Personal reference or application.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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”). Largely displaced native Middle English rinen, from Old English hrīnan (whence Modern English rine). Doublet of tuck. 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”). More at tuck. Via Proto-Indo-European *dewk- cognate with English tie, tow, tug, team, Latin dūcō, dux.