'touchless

World English Dictionary

touch (tʌtʃ)

—n
1.	the sense by which the texture and other qualities of objects can be experienced when they come in contact with a part of the body surface, esp the tips of the fingersRelated: haptic, tactile, tactual
2.	the quality of an object as perceived by this sense; feel; feeling
3.	the act or an instance of something coming into contact with the body
4.	a gentle push, tap, or caress
5.	a small amount; hint: a touch of sarcasm
6.	a noticeable effect; influence: the house needed a woman's touch
7.	any slight stroke or mark: with a touch of his brush he captured the scene
8.	characteristic manner or style: the artist had a distinctive touch
9.	a detail of some work, esp a literary or artistic work: she added a few finishing touches to the book
10.	a slight attack, as of a disease: a touch of bronchitis
11.	a specific ability or facility: the champion appeared to have lost his touch
12.	the state of being aware of a situation or in contact with someone: to get in touch with someone
13.	the state of being in physical contact
14.	a trial or test (esp in the phrase put to the touch)
15.	rugby, soccer the area outside the touchlines, beyond which the ball is out of play (esp in the phrase in touch)
16.	archaic
	a. an official stamp on metal indicating standard purity
	b. Now usually called: hallmark the die stamp used to apply this mark
17.	a scoring hit in competitive fencing
18.	an estimate of the amount of gold in an alloy as obtained by use of a touchstone
19.	the technique of fingering a keyboard instrument
20.	the quality of the action of a keyboard instrument with regard to the relative ease with which the keys may be depressed: this piano has a nice touch
21.	bell-ringing any series of changes where the permutations are fewer in number than for a peal
22.	slang
	a. the act of asking for money as a loan or gift, often by devious means
	b. the money received in this way
	c. a person asked for money in this way: he was an easy touch

—vb (when intr, often foll by on)
23.	(tr) to cause or permit a part of the body to come into contact with
24.	(tr) to tap, feel, or strike, esp with the hand: don't touch the cake!
25.	to come or cause (something) to come into contact with (something else): their hands touched briefly; he touched the match to the fuse
26.	(intr) to be in contact
27.	(tr; usually used with a negative) to take hold of (a person or thing), esp in violence: don't touch the baby!
28.	to be adjacent to (each other): the two properties touch
29.	(tr) to move or disturb by handling: someone's touched my desk
30.	(tr) to have an effect on: the war scarcely touched our town
31.	(tr) to produce an emotional response in: his sad story touched her
32.	(tr) to affect; concern
33.	(tr; usually used with a negative) to partake of, eat, or drink
34.	(tr; usually used with a negative) to handle or deal with: I wouldn't touch that business
35.	to allude (to) briefly or in passing: the speech touched on several subjects
36.	(tr) to tinge or tint slightly: brown hair touched with gold
37.	(tr) to spoil or injure slightly: blackfly touched the flowers
38.	(tr) to mark, as with a brush or pen
39.	(tr) to compare to in quality or attainment; equal or match: there's no-one to touch him
40.	(tr) to reach or attain: he touched the high point in his career
41.	(intr) to dock or stop briefly: the ship touches at Tenerife
42.	slang (tr) to ask for a loan or gift of money from
43.	rare
	a. to finger (the keys or strings of an instrument)
	b. to play (a tune, piece of music, etc) in this way
44.	touch base See base to make contact

Related: haptic, tactile, tactual

[C13: from Old French tochier, from Vulgar Latin toccāre (unattested) to strike, ring (a bell), probably imitative of a tapping sound]

'touchable

—*adj*

'touchableness

—n

'toucher

—n

'touchless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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