Adjacent Words

touch off definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: put in motion or move to act; "trigger a reaction"; "actuate the circuits" [syn: trip, actuate, trigger, activate, set off, spark off, spark, trigger off, touch off]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Date: circa 1765 1. to describe or characterize with precision 2. a. to cause to explode by or as if by touching with fire b. to provoke or initiate with sudden intensity <the verdict touched off local riots>

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If something touches off a situation or series of events, it causes it to start happening. Is the massacre likely to touch off a new round of violence? = spark off PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

1. Delineate lightly, touch, sketch, mark out hastily. 2. Discharge, apply the match to.

Moby Thesaurus

backfire, bank, blast, blow out, blow up, burn, burst, bust, conflagrate, detonate, discharge, enkindle, explode, fan the flame, feed, feed the fire, fire, fulminate, go off, ignite, inflame, kindle, let off, light, light the fuse, light up, rekindle, relight, relume, set fire to, set off, set on fire, shoot, spark, stir the fire, stoke, stoke the fire, strike a light, torch, trigger