Word.ws English Dictionary

touches off

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

Meaning of touch off

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To start (something); to set off traps; especially used for unstable situations that may magnify if disturbed.
    • Be cautious talking about religion or politics, lest you touch off an argument.
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To cause a fire to start.
    • A spark touched off the conflagration.
  3. To establish a reference coordinate or datum, by moving the tool head to just touch the workpiece or machine bed.
    • A traditional method of touching off uses a piece of thin paper placed between the tool and workpiece.

Questions about touches off

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

Words near touches off in the dictionary

  1. touches grass
  2. touches home
  3. touches in
  4. touches of the tar brush
  5. touches of the tarbrush
  6. touches off
  7. touches on
  8. touches one's forelock
  9. touches oneself
  10. touches some grass
  11. touches someone's hem

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: touches off (page history and authors); touch off (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 off.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/touches_off. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.