1. Arousing affect
   "his gratitude was simple and touching";
   - affecting, poignant

1. The act of putting two things together with no space between them
   "at his touching the room filled with lights";
   - touch
    
2. The event of something coming in contact with the body
   "he longed for the touching of her hand";
   - touch

1. Make physical contact with, come in contact with
   "Touch the stone for good luck"; "She never touched her husband"
    
2. Be in direct physical contact with; make contact
   "The two buildings touch"; "Their hands touched";
   - adjoin, meet, contact
    
3. Affect emotionally
   "I was touched by your kind letter of sympathy";
   - stir
    
4. Be relevant to
   "His speech touched on several important issues";
   - refer, pertain, relate, concern, bear on, touch on, have to do with
    
5. Deal with; usually used with a form of negation
   "I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole"; "The local Mafia won't touch gambling"
    
6. To extend as far as
   "The chair must not touch the wall";
   - reach, extend to
    
7. Be equal to in quality or ability
   "Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues";
   - equal, rival, match
    
8. Tamper with
   "Don't touch my CDs!";
   - disturb
    
9. Make a more or less disguised reference to
   "The speech touched on sensitive political issues";
   - allude, advert [rare]
    
10. Comprehend
    "He could not touch the meaning of the poem"
     
11. Consume
    "She didn't touch her food all night";
    - partake
     
12. Colour lightly
    "her greying hair was touched blond";
    - tint, tinct [archaic], tinge

Derived forms: touchings

See also: heat, moving, touch down

Type of: act, affect, alter, be, care, change, color [US], color in [US], colorise [Brit], colorize [US], colour [Brit, Cdn], colour in [Brit, Cdn], colourise [Brit], colourize [Brit, Cdn], compete, consume, contact, contend, deal, deed, handle, have, hint, human action, human activity, impinging, impress, ingest, manage, modify, move, strike, striking, suggest, take, take in, understand, vie

Encyclopedia: Touching