touch noun

1 act of touching sb/sth

ADJ. delicate, gentle, light, slight The slightest touch will set off the alarm.

PREP. at sb/sth's ~ The door swung open at his touch. You can now do your shopping at the touch of a button.

2 small detail

ADJ. final, finishing | decorative, festive, homely, romantic The family photos give the room a homely touch. | humorous | classy, lovely, nice, professional Giving her flowers was a nice touch. | feminine, human, idiosyncratic, individual, personal | little The decor includes many idiosyncratic little touches.

VERB + TOUCH add, give sth, put She's just putting the finishing touches to her painting.

3 particular ability

ADJ. golden, magic | deft, sure With students she had a sure touch and showed great personal sensitivity. | light He handles this controversial subject with a light touch. | political He found his old political touch when the crisis emerged.

VERB + TOUCH find | lose Maybe the champion is losing her magic touch.

4 small amount of sth

ADJ. little, subtle | welcome

VERB + TOUCH add, bring Her speech brought a welcome touch of humour to the evening.

PREP. with a ~ of ‘Thanks,’ she said, with a touch of sarcasm. | ~ of

5 contact

ADJ. close The security staff were in close touch with the local police.

VERB + TOUCH get in I'm trying to get in touch with Jane. Do you have her number? | keep in, stay in It is important to keep in touch with the latest research. Let's keep in touch. | put sb in I'll put you in touch with someone in your area. | lose I've lost touch with all my old friends.

PREP. in ~ Are you still in touch with your friends from college? | out of ~ This government is increasingly out of touch with ordinary voters. | ~ with

touch verb

1 put your hand on sb/sth; be in contact with sb/sth

ADV. (not) actually, not even, not quite He did not actually touch the substance, but may have inhaled microparticles. | barely, hardly, scarcely You've hardly touched your food (= not eaten it). | almost, nearly, practically Their faces were almost touching. | just | briefly His fingers briefly touched hers. | gently, lightly | gingerly | accidentally, inadvertently He accidentally touched a live wire attached to overhead power cables. | never He said I kicked him, but I never touched him!

VERB + TOUCH want to | (not) dare (to) Don't you dare touch me! | reach out to Her hand reached out to touch his cheek. | let sb He wouldn't let me touch the wound.

PREP. on He touched her gently on the arm. | with She touched him with her hand.

2 make sb feel a strong emotion

ADV. deeply The story touched me very deeply. PHRASAL VERBS touch on/upon sth

ADV. briefly | just, merely Photojournalism and the birth of photography are merely touched on in the book.

VERB + TOUCH want to I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.

You can also check other dicts: touch (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition

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