World Book 1997 4.0

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ World Book 1997 4.0 / The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia v4.00.iso / data / dictdata / touch.dic < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1997-04-11 | 11.3 KB | 108 lines

<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: touch - touch-me-not</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="touch"> touch, verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.t. 1. to put the hand, finger, or some other part of the body on or against and feel. Ex. She touched the pan to see whether it was still hot. <DD> 2. to put (one thing) against another; make contact with. Ex. Hetouched the post with his umbrella. <DD> 3. to be against; come against. Ex. Your sleeve is touching the butter. Water touched the dock. <DD> 4a. to border on. Ex. a country that touches the mountains on the north. <DD> b. (Geometry.) to be tangent to. <DD> 5. to strike lightly or gently. Ex. to touch a doorbell. She touched the strings of the harp. (SYN) tap. <DD> 6. to injure slightly. Ex. The flowers were touched by the frost. <DD> 7. (Figurative.) to affect with some feeling. Ex. The poor woman's sad story touched our hearts. (SYN) move. <DD> 8. to affect in some way by contact. Ex. a metal so hard that a file cannot touch it. <DD> 9. to wound; hurt. Ex. No soldiers were touched in the skirmish. <DD> 10. to play (an air). <DD> 11. to make slightly insane or crazy. Ex. to be touched in the head. <DD> 12. (Figurative.) to have to do with; concern. Ex. The matter touches your interest. The new law does not touch his case. <DD> 13. (Figurative.) to speak of; deal with; refer to; treat lightly. Ex. Our conference touched many points. <DD> 14. to take or taste; handle; use. Ex. The tired man couldn't touch a bit of dinner. He won't touch liquor or tobacco. <DD> 15. (Figurative.) to have to do with in any way; be a party to. Ex. I won't touch that business--it's crooked. <DD> 16. to come up to; reach. Ex. His head almost touches the ceiling. The mercury touched 90 degrees. <DD> 17. to stop at; visit in passing. Ex. The ship touched many ports. <DD> 18. (Slang, Figurative.) <DD> a. to borrow from. Ex. to touch a friend for a dollar. <DD> b. to get by underhanded means; steal. <DD> 19. (Figurative.) to compare with; rival. Ex. No one in our class can touch her in music. <DD> 20. (Figurative.) to mark slightly or superficially, as with some color. Ex. a sky touched with pink. <DD> 21. to mark, draw, or delineate, as with strokes of the brush or pencil. <DD> 22. to mark (metal) as of standard purity, with an official stamp, after it has been tested. <DD> 23. to lay the hand upon (a diseased person) for the cure of scrofula, as formerly practiced by French and English sovereigns. <DD>v.i. 1. to put the hand, finger, or some other part of the body on or against something. Ex. These glasses are delicate--don't touch! <DD> 2. to come or be in contact. Ex. Our hands touched. <DD> 3. to arrive and make a brief stop. Ex. Most ships touch at that port. <DD> 4. (Figurative.) to speak or write briefly or in passing. <DD> 5. to approach closely; verge. <DD>noun 1. the act of touching or condition of being touched. Ex. A bubble bursts at a touch. The touch of the cold water made her shiver. <DD> 2a. the sense by which a person perceives things by feeling, handling, or coming against them. Ex. The blind develop a keen touch. Some wool is rough to the touch. <DD> b. the feeling caused by touching something; feel. Ex. Worms and fish have a slimy touch. <DD> 3. the act of coming or condition of being in contact. Ex. the touch of their hands. <DD> 4. (Figurative.) a slight amount; little bit. Ex. a touch of sarcasm, a touch of salt. We had a touch of frost. (SYN) trace, tinge, shade, dash. <DD> 5a. a light, delicate stroke with a brush, pencil, or pen. Ex. The artist finished my picture with a few touches. <DD> b. any light stroke or blow. <DD> 6. (Figurative.) a detail in any artistic work. Ex. a story with charming poetic touches. <DD> 7. (Figurative.) a close relation of communication, agreement, sympathy, or interest. Ex. Mental patients often lose touch with daily life. <DD> 8a. the act or manner of playing a musical instrument or striking the keys on the keyboard of a machine. Ex. a typist's uneven touch. The girl playing the piano has an excellent touch. <DD> b. the way the keys of a musical instrument or machine work. Ex. a piano with a stiff touch. <DD> 9. (Figurative.) <DD> a. a distinctive manner or quality; skill in style. Ex. The work showed an expert's touch. <DD> b. a mental or moral perception or feeling. Ex. a delicate, intellectual touch. <DD> 10. a slight attack. Ex. a touch of fever. <DD> 11a. an official mark or stamp, as put on gold or silver to show it has been tested and is of standard fineness. <DD> b. a die, stamp, or punch for impressing such a mark. <DD> c. the quality or fineness so tested and indicated. <DD> 12. (Figurative.) quality, kind, or sort. Ex. friends of noble touch. <DD> 13. any testing or test; trial; criterion. Ex. to put a new product to the touch. <DD> 14. any series of less than a complete set of changes in change ringing. <DD> 15. (Slang, Figurative.) <DD> a. a borrowing or getting money from a person. <DD> b. money borrowed or gotten. <DD> c. a person borrowed or to be borrowed from. Ex. He is a soft touch. <DD> 16. (Rugby, Soccer.) the part of the field, including the sidelines, lying outside the field of play. expr. in touch, in a close relation of communication, agreement, sympathy, or interest. Ex. She kept in touch with her family while she was overseas. A newspaper keeps one in touch with the world. expr. out of touch, lacking close relation of communication, agreement, sympathy, or interest. Ex. The old man was completely out of touch with the youngsters and their ways. expr. touch down, <DD> a. to land an aircraft; land. Ex. The pilot touched down at a small country airfield. <DD> b. (Rugby.) to touch the ground with (the ball) behind the opposing team's goal line. Ex. A young member of the visiting pack was able to touch down a try in the follow-up (London Times). expr. touch off, <DD> a. to cause to go off; fire. Ex. The only delay ... is due to a fear that a dispatch of the troops will touch off the magazine (London Daily Chronicle). <DD> b. (Figurative:) Ex. to touch off a riot. expr. touch on (or upon), <DD> a. to treat lightly; mention. Ex. Our conversation touched on many subjects. <DD> b. to concern; relate to. Ex. an event that touches on her career. <DD> c. to come close to. Ex. a sermon that touches on heresy. expr. touch up, to change a little; improve. Ex. to touch up a play. He touched up a photograph. adj. touchable. noun toucher. </DL> <A NAME="touchandgo"> touch and go,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. an uncertain, risky, or precarious situation. Ex. It was touch and go whether the wounded man would live or die. <DD> 2. the act of touching for an instant and at once quitting; something done quickly or instantaneously. </DL> <A NAME="touchandgo"> touch-and-go, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> uncertain; risky; precarious. </DL> <A NAME="touchback"> touchback, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of touching the football to the ground by a player behind his own goal line when the impetus of the ball came from the other team. No points are scored. </DL> <A NAME="touchdancing"> touch dancing,<DL COMPACT><DD> dancing in which the partners hold each other and usually move in a series of complementary steps. Ex. Touch dancing is back, and with it a new demand for formal instruction in a genre less sensuously described as ballroom dancing (Jane Davison). </DL> <A NAME="touchdown"> touchdown, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the act of a player in putting the football on the ground behind the opponents' goal line. <DD> 2. the score of six points made in this way. <DD> 3. the act of landing an aircraft, especially the moment of first contact with the ground. Ex. The pilot made an unexpected touchdown because of engine trouble. </DL> <A NAME="touche"> touche, noun, interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun a touch, as by the weapon of an opponent in fencing. <DD>interj. an exclamation acknowledging an effective point in an argument or a clever reply. </DL> <A NAME="touched"> touched, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. (Informal.) not quite normal mentally; slightly crazed; daft. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) stirred emotionally; moved. Ex. He was touched by our concern for his welfare. </DL> <A NAME="touchfootball"> touch football,<DL COMPACT><DD> a game having rules similar to football except that the person carrying the ball is touched rather than tackled. The players usually have little or no protective equipment and the teams often consist of fewer than eleven players. </DL> <A NAME="touchhole"> touchhole, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (formerly) a small opening in a gun or cannon through which the gunpowder inside was set on fire. </DL> <A NAME="touching"> touching, adjective, preposition.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. arousing tender feeling or sympathy. Ex. "A Christmas Carol" is a touching story. (SYN) moving, pathetic. <DD>prep. concerning; about. Ex. He asked many questions touching my house and school. adv. touchingly. noun touchingness. </DL> <A NAME="touchjudge"> touch judge,<DL COMPACT><DD> (Rugby.) an umpire who marks when and where the ball goes into touch. </DL> <A NAME="touchless"> touchless, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. lacking the sense of touch. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) intangible. </DL> <A NAME="touchline"> touchline, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Rugby, Soccer.) the boundary of the playing field; sideline. </DL> <A NAME="touchmenot"> touch-me-not, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of plants whose ripe seed pods burst open when touched; impatiens; jewelweed. </DL> <A HREF="touchsto.dic">NEXT</A>