Touch (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Touched (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Touching.] [F. toucher, OF. touchier, tuchier;
of Teutonic origin; cf. OHG. zucchen, zukken, to twitch,
pluck, draw, G. zukken, zukken, v. intens. fr. OHG.
ziohan to draw, G. ziehen, akin to E. tug. See
Tuck, v. t., Tug, and cf. Tocsin,
Toccata.] 1. To come in contact with; to hit or
strike lightly against; to extend the hand, foot, or the like, so as to
reach or rest on.
Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear
Touched lightly.
Milton.
2. To perceive by the sense of feeling.
Nothing but body can be touched or
touch.
Greech.
3. To come to; to reach; to attain to.
The god, vindictive, doomed them never more-
Ah, men unblessed! -- to touch their natal shore.
Pope.
4. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
[Obs.]
Wherein I mean to touch your love
indeed.
Shak.
5. To relate to; to concern; to affect.
The quarrel toucheth none but us alone.
Shak.
6. To handle, speak of, or deal with; to treat
of.
Storial thing that toucheth gentilesse.
Chaucer.
7. To meddle or interfere with; as, I have not
touched the books. Pope.
8. To affect the senses or the sensibility of; to
move; to melt; to soften.
What of sweet before
Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh.
Milton.
The tender sire was touched with what he
said.
Addison.
9. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a
slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn
right.
Pope.
10. To infect; to affect slightly.
Bacon.
11. To make an impression on; to have effect
upon.
Its face . . . so hard that a file will not touch
it.
Moxon.
12. To strike; to manipulate; to play on; as, to
touch an instrument of music.
[They] touched their golden harps.
Milton.
13. To perform, as a tune; to play.
A person is the royal retinue touched a light and
lively air on the flageolet.
Sir W. Scott.
14. To influence by impulse; to impel
forcibly. " No decree of mine, . . . [to] touch with lightest
moment of impulse his free will," Milton.
15. To harm, afflict, or distress.
Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no
hurt, as we have not touched thee.
Gen. xxvi. 28,
29.
16. To affect with insanity, especially in a slight
degree; to make partially insane; -- rarely used except in the past
participle.
She feared his head was a little
touched.
Ld. Lytton.
17. (Geom.) To be tangent to. See
Tangent, a.
18. To lay a hand upon for curing
disease.
To touch a sail (Naut.), to bring it so
close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. -- To touch
the wind (Naut.), to keep the ship as near the wind as
possible. -- To touch up, to repair; to improve
by touches or emendation.
Touch (?), v. i. 1. To
be in contact; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between;
as, two spheres touch only at points. Johnson.
2. To fasten; to take effect; to make
impression. [R.]
Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon
gold, that will not touch upon silver.
Bacon.
3. To treat anything in discourse, especially in a
slight or casual manner; -- often with on or upon.
If the antiquaries have touched upon it, they
immediately
quitted it.
Addison.
4. (Naut) To be brought, as a sail, so close
to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
To touch and go (Naut.), to touch bottom
lightly and without damage, as a vessel in motion. -- To touch
at, to come or go to, without tarrying; as, the ship
touched at Lisbon. -- To touch on or
upon, to come or go to for a short time.
[R.]
I made a little voyage round the lake, and touched on
the several towns that lie on its coasts.
Addison.
Touch, n. [Cf. F. touche. See
Touch, v. ] 1. The act of
touching, or the state of being touched; contact.
Their touch affrights me as a serpent's
sting.
Shak.
2. (Physiol.) The sense by which pressure or
traction exerted on the skin is recognized; the sense by which the
properties of bodies are determined by contact; the tactile sense. See
Tactile sense, under Tactile.
The spider's touch, how exquisitely
fine.
Pope.
&fist; Pure tactile feelings are necessarily rare, since temperature
sensations and muscular sensations are more or less combined with them. The
organs of touch are found chiefly in the epidermis of the skin and certain
underlying nervous structures.
3. Act or power of exciting emotion.
Not alone
The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches,
Do strongly speak to us.
Shak.
4. An emotion or affection.
A true, natural, and a sensible touch of
mercy.
Hooker.
5. Personal reference or application.
[Obs.]
Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly
used.
Bacon.
6. A stroke; as, a touch of raillery; a
satiric touch; hence, animadversion; censure; reproof.
I never bare any touch of conscience with greater
regret.
Eikon Basilike.
7. A single stroke on a drawing or a
picture.
Never give the least touch with your pencil till you
have well examined your design.
Dryden.
8. Feature; lineament; trait.
Of many faces, eyes, and hearts,
To have the touches dearest prized.
Shak.
9. The act of the hand on a musical instrument;
bence, in the plural, musical notes.
Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Shak.
10. A small quantity intermixed; a little; a
dash.
Eyes La touch of Sir Peter Lely in them.
Hazlitt.
Madam, I have a touch of your condition.
Shak.
11. A hint; a suggestion; slight notice.
A small touch will put him in mind of
them.
Bacon.
12. A slight and brief essay. [Colloq.]
Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers'
phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.
Swift.
13. A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for
touchstone. [Obs.] " Now do I play the touch."
Shak.
A neat new monument of touch and
alabaster.
Fuller.
14. Hence, examination or trial by some decisive
standard; test; proof; tried quality.
Equity, the true touch of all laws.
Carew.
Friends of noble touch .
Shak.
15. (Mus.) The particular or characteristic
mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the
fingers; as, a heavy touch, or a light touch; also, the
manner of touching, striking, or pressing the keys of a piano; as, a legato
touch; a staccato touch.
16. (Shipbilding) The broadest part of a
plank worked top and but (see Top and but, under Top,
n.), 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. J. Knowles.
17. (Football) That part of the field which
is beyond the line of flags on either side. Encyc. of Rural
Sports.
18. A boys' game; tag.
In touch (Football), outside of
bounds. T. Hughes. -- To be in touch, to
be in contact, or in sympathy. -- To keep touch.
(a) To be true or punctual to a promise or engagement
[Obs.]; hence, to fulfill duly a function.
My mind and senses keep touch and time.
Sir W. Scott.
(b) To keep in contact; to maintain connection or
sympathy; -- with with or of. --
Touch and
go, a phrase descriptive of a narrow escape. --
True as touch (i. e., touchstone),
quite true. [Obs.]
Touch, v. t. 1. To
compare with; of be equal to; -- usually with a negative; as, he held
that for good cheer nothing could touch an open fire.
[Colloq.]
2. To induce to give or lend; to borrow from;
as, to touch one for a loan; hence, to steal from.
[Slang]
Touch, n. 1. (Change
Ringing) A set of changes less than the total possible on
seven bells, that is, less than 5,040.
2. An act of borrowing or stealing.
[Slang]
3. Tallow; -- a plumber's term.
[Eng.]
Touch (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Touched (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Touching.] [F. toucher, OF. touchier, tuchier;
of Teutonic origin; cf. OHG. zucchen, zukken, to twitch,
pluck, draw, G. zukken, zukken, v. intens. fr. OHG.
ziohan to draw, G. ziehen, akin to E. tug. See
Tuck, v. t., Tug, and cf. Tocsin,
Toccata.] 1. To come in contact with; to hit or
strike lightly against; to extend the hand, foot, or the like, so as to
reach or rest on.
Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear
Touched lightly.
Milton.
2. To perceive by the sense of feeling.
Nothing but body can be touched or
touch.
Greech.
3. To come to; to reach; to attain to.
The god, vindictive, doomed them never more-
Ah, men unblessed! -- to touch their natal shore.
Pope.
4. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
[Obs.]
Wherein I mean to touch your love
indeed.
Shak.
5. To relate to; to concern; to affect.
The quarrel toucheth none but us alone.
Shak.
6. To handle, speak of, or deal with; to treat
of.
Storial thing that toucheth gentilesse.
Chaucer.
7. To meddle or interfere with; as, I have not
touched the books. Pope.
8. To affect the senses or the sensibility of; to
move; to melt; to soften.
What of sweet before
Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh.
Milton.
The tender sire was touched with what he
said.
Addison.
9. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a
slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn
right.
Pope.
10. To infect; to affect slightly.
Bacon.
11. To make an impression on; to have effect
upon.
Its face . . . so hard that a file will not touch
it.
Moxon.
12. To strike; to manipulate; to play on; as, to
touch an instrument of music.
[They] touched their golden harps.
Milton.
13. To perform, as a tune; to play.
A person is the royal retinue touched a light and
lively air on the flageolet.
Sir W. Scott.
14. To influence by impulse; to impel
forcibly. " No decree of mine, . . . [to] touch with lightest
moment of impulse his free will," Milton.
15. To harm, afflict, or distress.
Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no
hurt, as we have not touched thee.
Gen. xxvi. 28,
29.
16. To affect with insanity, especially in a slight
degree; to make partially insane; -- rarely used except in the past
participle.
She feared his head was a little
touched.
Ld. Lytton.
17. (Geom.) To be tangent to. See
Tangent, a.
18. To lay a hand upon for curing
disease.
To touch a sail (Naut.), to bring it so
close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. -- To touch
the wind (Naut.), to keep the ship as near the wind as
possible. -- To touch up, to repair; to improve
by touches or emendation.
Touch (?), v. i. 1. To
be in contact; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between;
as, two spheres touch only at points. Johnson.
2. To fasten; to take effect; to make
impression. [R.]
Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon
gold, that will not touch upon silver.
Bacon.
3. To treat anything in discourse, especially in a
slight or casual manner; -- often with on or upon.
If the antiquaries have touched upon it, they
immediately
quitted it.
Addison.
4. (Naut) To be brought, as a sail, so close
to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
To touch and go (Naut.), to touch bottom
lightly and without damage, as a vessel in motion. -- To touch
at, to come or go to, without tarrying; as, the ship
touched at Lisbon. -- To touch on or
upon, to come or go to for a short time.
[R.]
I made a little voyage round the lake, and touched on
the several towns that lie on its coasts.
Addison.
Touch, n. [Cf. F. touche. See
Touch, v. ] 1. The act of
touching, or the state of being touched; contact.
Their touch affrights me as a serpent's
sting.
Shak.
2. (Physiol.) The sense by which pressure or
traction exerted on the skin is recognized; the sense by which the
properties of bodies are determined by contact; the tactile sense. See
Tactile sense, under Tactile.
The spider's touch, how exquisitely
fine.
Pope.
&fist; Pure tactile feelings are necessarily rare, since temperature
sensations and muscular sensations are more or less combined with them. The
organs of touch are found chiefly in the epidermis of the skin and certain
underlying nervous structures.
3. Act or power of exciting emotion.
Not alone
The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches,
Do strongly speak to us.
Shak.
4. An emotion or affection.
A true, natural, and a sensible touch of
mercy.
Hooker.
5. Personal reference or application.
[Obs.]
Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly
used.
Bacon.
6. A stroke; as, a touch of raillery; a
satiric touch; hence, animadversion; censure; reproof.
I never bare any touch of conscience with greater
regret.
Eikon Basilike.
7. A single stroke on a drawing or a
picture.
Never give the least touch with your pencil till you
have well examined your design.
Dryden.
8. Feature; lineament; trait.
Of many faces, eyes, and hearts,
To have the touches dearest prized.
Shak.
9. The act of the hand on a musical instrument;
bence, in the plural, musical notes.
Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Shak.
10. A small quantity intermixed; a little; a
dash.
Eyes La touch of Sir Peter Lely in them.
Hazlitt.
Madam, I have a touch of your condition.
Shak.
11. A hint; a suggestion; slight notice.
A small touch will put him in mind of
them.
Bacon.
12. A slight and brief essay. [Colloq.]
Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers'
phrase, will make a sixpenny touch.
Swift.
13. A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for
touchstone. [Obs.] " Now do I play the touch."
Shak.
A neat new monument of touch and
alabaster.
Fuller.
14. Hence, examination or trial by some decisive
standard; test; proof; tried quality.
Equity, the true touch of all laws.
Carew.
Friends of noble touch .
Shak.
15. (Mus.) The particular or characteristic
mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the
fingers; as, a heavy touch, or a light touch; also, the
manner of touching, striking, or pressing the keys of a piano; as, a legato
touch; a staccato touch.
16. (Shipbilding) The broadest part of a
plank worked top and but (see Top and but, under Top,
n.), 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. J. Knowles.
17. (Football) That part of the field which
is beyond the line of flags on either side. Encyc. of Rural
Sports.
18. A boys' game; tag.
In touch (Football), outside of
bounds. T. Hughes. -- To be in touch, to
be in contact, or in sympathy. -- To keep touch.
(a) To be true or punctual to a promise or engagement
[Obs.]; hence, to fulfill duly a function.
My mind and senses keep touch and time.
Sir W. Scott.
(b) To keep in contact; to maintain connection or
sympathy; -- with with or of. --
Touch and
go, a phrase descriptive of a narrow escape. --
True as touch (i. e., touchstone),
quite true. [Obs.]
Touch, v. t. 1. To
compare with; of be equal to; -- usually with a negative; as, he held
that for good cheer nothing could touch an open fire.
[Colloq.]
2. To induce to give or lend; to borrow from;
as, to touch one for a loan; hence, to steal from.
[Slang]
Touch, n. 1. (Change
Ringing) A set of changes less than the total possible on
seven bells, that is, less than 5,040.
2. An act of borrowing or stealing.
[Slang]
3. Tallow; -- a plumber's term.
[Eng.]
