touch
has definitions from the fields of psychology,color,physiology,medicine
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[ verb ] make physical contact with, come in contact with
Examples "Touch the stone for good luck" "She never touched her husband" Used in print (Organic Gardening and Farming,...)It is n't easy to describe it , but every gardener knows it when his fingers touch such soil . (Bonnie Prudden, "The Dancer and the Gymnast"...)At the peak of the arch , tip the head back and bend the knees in an effort to touch toes to head . (Jim Berry Pearson, The Maxwell Land Grant....)Not a bullet touched Cook who was nearer the ambush , but one hit Russell in the leg and another broke his arm , passing_on through his body . (Louis Zara, Dark Rider....)The pointed shadow had nearly touched him . (Robert Penn Warren, Wilderness....)Standing in the shelter of the tent - a rejected hospital tent on which the rain now dripped , no_longer drumming - Adam watched his own hands touch the objects on the improvised counter of boards laid across two beef barrels . |
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[ noun ] the event of something coming in contact with the body
Synonyms Examples "he longed for the touch of her hand" "the cooling touch of the night air" Used in print (William S. Haymond, "Is Distance an Original...)And he could recognize , by touch alone , articles which he had handled immediately before , even though they were altogether unfamiliar to him and could not be identified by him ; that_is , he was unaware what kind of objects they were or what their use was . (Clayton C. Barbeau, The Ikon....)At the slope 's base coils of concertina stretched out_of eye range like a wild tangle of children 's hoops , stopped simultaneously , weirdly poised as if awaiting the magic of the child 's touch to start them all rolling again . The walk and his fears had served to overheat him and his sweaty armpits cooled at the touch of the night air . (Glayds H. Barr, The Master of Geneva....)For an instant John longed for the sound of the bells of Noyon-la-Sainte , the touch of his mother 's hand , the lilt of Charles 's voice in the square raftered rooms , his father 's bass tones rumbling to the canons , and the sight of the beloved bishop . (Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)But youth asked nothing of its parents - not a touch of the hand or a kiss given in_passing . |
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[ verb ] perceive via the tactile sense
Examples "Helen Keller felt the physical world by touching people and objects around her" Used in print (Christopher Davis, First Family....)She did not touch him . (William Maxwell, The Chateau....)He moved_over to the desk and stood looking at the papers on_it but not touching anything . (Sallie Bingham, "Moving Day," The Atlantic...)His eye had fastened on her leg ; bending , he touched her knee . (John Hazard Wildman, "Take It Off," The Arizona...)They wanted to touch the mystery . Related terms |
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[ verb ] affect emotionally
Synonyms Examples "A stirring movie" "I was touched by your kind letter of sympathy" Used in print (John Cheever, "The Brigadier and the Golf Widow,"...)The thought of this lonely woman sitting at her window touched him , although he was even more touched by her plumpness . The thought of this lonely woman sitting at her window touched him , although he was even more touched by her plumpness . |
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[ noun ] (physiology) the faculty of touch
Examples "only sight and touch enable us to locate objects in the space around us" Used in print (William S. Haymond, "Is Distance an Original...)The underlying assumption , of_course , is that only sight and touch enable us , in any precise and fully dependable way , to locate objects in space beyond us , the other senses being decidedly inferior , if_not totally inadequate , in this regard . Therefore , if the sense_of_touch is functioning normally and there is a complete absence of spatial awareness in a psychically blind person when the eyes are closed and an object is handled , the conclusion seems unavoidable that touch by itself cannot focus and take possession of the third-dimensionality of things and that actual sight or visual representations are necessary . If the patient can perceive figure kinesthetically when he cannot perceive it visually , then , it would seem , the sense_of_touch has immediate contact with the spatial aspects of things in_independence_of visual representations , at_least in regard_to two dimensions , and , as we shall see , even this much spatial awareness on_the_part_of unaided touch is denied by the authors . Related terms |
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[ verb ] have an effect upon
Examples "Will the new rules affect me?" Used in print (Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land....)`` You can n't touch him . The Martians have their own setup , different from ours , and as_long_as they need him , we can n't touch him . |
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[ verb ] be about; have to do with; be relevant to; refer, pertain, or relate to
Examples "What's this novel all about?" "There were lots of questions referring to her talk" Used in print (Arlin Turner, "William Faulkner, Southern Novelist"...)One of the early humorists already mentioned , Thomas_Bangs_Thorpe , can be used to illustrate another point where Faulkner touches authentic Southern materials and also earlier literary treatment of those materials . (Robert E. Lane, The Liberties of Wit: Humanism, Critici...)In a symposium and general exploration of the field of Person Perception and Interpersonal Behavior the discussion does not touch upon this aspect of the subject , with one possible exception ; Solomon_Asch shows the transcultural stability of metaphors based on sensation ( hot , sweet , bitter , etc . ) dealing with personal qualities of human_beings and events . |
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[ verb ] be in direct physical contact with; make contact
Examples "The two buildings touch" "Their hands touched" "The wire must not contact the metal cover" "The surfaces contact at this point" Used in print (Mr. America, 4:6...)You 'll know when you 've made the greatest stretch because your shoulder_blades will touch ! (R. P. Jerrard, "Inscribed squares in plane curves"...)The points may also touch C without crossing . (Bruce Palmer, "My Brother's Keeper", Many Are...)When the boat had touched , the weaker ones and the two wounded men had been lifted out and carried_away by the soldiers . |
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[ verb ] deal with; usually used with a form of negation
Examples "I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole" "The local Mafia won't touch gambling" Used in print (Kenneth Allsop, The Bootleggers and Their Era...)Unlike the Sicilians , he additionally conducted holdups , robberies , and safe cracking expeditions , and refused to touch prostitution . Related terms |
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[ noun ] a distinguishing style
Synonyms Examples "this room needs a woman's touch" Used in print (The Christian Science Monitor,...)Complete with crowd effects , interruptions by jet_planes , and sundry other touches of realism , this disc displays London 's new technique to the best effect . (High Fidelity, 11:10...)Every detail in his interpretation has been beautifully thought_out , and of these I would especially cite the delicious landler touch the pianist brings to the fifth variation ( an obvious indication that he is playing with Viennese musicians ) , and the gossamer shading throughout . Related terms |
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[ verb ] cause to be in brief contact with
Examples "He touched his toes to the horse's flanks" Used in print (Arlin Turner, "William Faulkner, Southern Novelist"...)His repeated experimentation with the techniques of fiction testifies to an independence of mind and an originality of approach , but it also shows him touching at many points the stream of literary development back of him . |
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[ noun ] a suggestion of some quality
Examples "there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone" "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face" Used in print (Charles Wharton Stork, "Verner von Heidenstam"...)Some of the earlier episodes have touches of the supernatural , as suited to the legendary background . Related terms |
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[ noun ] the act of putting two things together with no space between them
Synonyms Examples "at his touch the room filled with lights" Used in print (Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)At fifteen he did n't care that he had no mother , that he could n't remember her face or her touch ; neither did he care that Aunt_Rose provided for him . `` You 're boiling milk , ai n't you '' ? soothing it with his hand , knowing the whiskered jowls and the swollen smoothness of teats that wrinkled expectantly to his touch . |
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[ verb ] make a more or less disguised reference to
Examples "He alluded to the problem but did not mention it" Used in print (Harold Rosenberg, "The Trial and Eichmann"...)These questions touch the root of confusion in the prosecution 's case . |
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[ noun ] a communicative interaction
Synonyms Examples "the pilot made contact with the base" "he got in touch with his colleagues" Used in print (The Department of State: A Fresh Look at the...)Means must be found to enable us to keep in touch as regularly and as efficiently as possible with our colleagues in other departments concerned with foreign_policy . Related terms |
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[ verb ] tamper with
Synonyms Examples "Don't touch my CDs!" Used in print ("National Affairs"...)In 1949 the Dixiecrats escaped unscathed after their 1948 rebellion against Harry_Truman , and in 1957 , after Congressman_Adam_Clayton_Powell campaigned for Dwight_Eisenhower in 1956 , his fellow Democrats did not touch his committee assignments , although they did strip him temporarily of his patronage . Related terms |
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[ verb ] be equal to in quality or ability;
Examples "Nothing can rival cotton for durability" "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues" "Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents" Used in print (The New York Times...)For style and assurance , for a supreme and regal bearing there is still no one who can touch her . |
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[ verb ] to extend as far as
Examples "The sunlight reached the wall" "Can he reach?" "The chair must not touch the wall" Used in print ("Sports"...)When Mickey_Charles_Mantle , the New_York Yankees ' man of muscle , drives a home_run 450 feet into the bleachers , his feat touches upon the_sublime . Related terms |
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[ verb ] comprehend
Examples "He could not touch the meaning of the poem" Used in print (Clayton C. Barbeau, The Ikon....)They were poems in a strange language , of which he could barely touch a meaning - enough to make his being ache with the desire for the fullness he sensed there . Related terms |
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[ noun ] the act of soliciting money (as a gift or loan)
Examples "he watched the beggar trying to make a touch" Related terms |
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[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 29524
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[ noun ] (psychology) the sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin
Examples "she likes the touch of silk on her skin" "the surface had a greasy feeling" Related terms |
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[ noun ] the feel of mechanical action
Examples : "this piano has a wonderful touch" Related terms |
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