Word.ws English Dictionary

touches a nerve

touches a nerve is the third-person singular simple present indicative of touch a nerve.

Meaning of touch a nerve

Verb

touch a nerve (third-person singular simple present touches a nerve, present participle touching a nerve, simple past and past participle touched a nerve)

  1. (idiomatic) To make a remark or perform a deed which produces a strong response, especially an emotional response such as anxiety or annoyance, because it calls to mind something which has been a source of concern or embarrassment.
    • Louis B. Seltzer, editor of the Cleveland Press, . . . banged out an editorial that raised uncomfortable questions about the state of the U.S. at a moment of world responsibility. His piece touched a nerve: in the following week, 1,000 people had tried to reach him by phone or written him letters...1951 August 27, “National Affairs: Right & Wrong”, in TIME, archived from the original on 23 Nov 2010

Questions about touches a nerve

What is touches a nerve the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Touches a nerve is the third-person singular simple present indicative of touch a nerve.

Words near touches a nerve in the dictionary

  1. Toucheng
  2. toucher
  3. toucherism
  4. touchers
  5. touches
  6. touches a nerve
  7. touches and goes
  8. touches base
  9. touches bottom
  10. touches cloth
  11. touches down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: touches a nerve (page history and authors); touch a nerve (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “touches a nerve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/touches_a_nerve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.