touch

When you use your fingers to feel something, you touch it.

• If you touch this, you can feel how soft it is.
• Don’t touch that! It’s hot.
• She touched her nose and felt that it was cold.
• Touch this piece of marble and feel how hard it is.
• The mother told her children not to touch anything in the store.
• You need to touch the numbers on the screen to make a call.

Sometimes we use the word "touch" when there’s an emotional response to a situation.

• She was touched by his kindness.
• The woman who volunteered in her community touched the lives of many people.

Here are a few idioms that make use of "touch."

• Let’s keep in touch. (Let’s stay in contact with each other by calling, writing email, using Skype.)
• I’ll touch base with you tomorrow. (I’ll talk to you tomorrow.)
• The teacher touched on that subject in class. (The teacher talked about that subject.)

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This page was first published on January 11, 2012. It was updated on December 24, 2016.