touch off
verb
touched off; touching off; touches off
1
a
: to provoke or initiate with sudden intensity
the verdict touched off local riots
b
: to cause to explode by or as if by touching with fire
2
: to describe or characterize with precision
Synonyms
Examples of touch off in a Sentence
his obscene comment touched off a heated debate about the need for censorship on live broadcasts
Recent Examples on the Web
Most have touched off familiar conflicts of varying intensity.
—
Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 May 2024
An hour later, Palestinian gunmen breached security barriers and infiltrated Israel by land, air and sea, killing 1,200 people, taking 253 hostages and touching off a bloody war that threatened to engulf the Middle East.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
Type 2 virus had been eradicated by then, and the only remaining type 2 polio cases were touched off by the live virus in the vaccine itself.
—Byleslie Roberts, science.org, 7 May 2024
The tension goes to the heart of a question that has touched off debate among observers and critics of the protests: At what point does pro-Palestinian political speech in a time of war cross the line into the type of antisemitism colleges have vowed to combat?
—Katherine Rosman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2024
The release of the documentary, directed by Samantha Stark, touched off an Internet firestorm and inspired celebrity apologies from Justin Timberlake, Perez Hilton and Sarah Silverman.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The shooting touched off a firestorm in Newport News.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Burnham’s death in 1985 touched off a series of events that began to change the country.
—Gaiutra Bahadur Keisha Scarville, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024
In addition to touching off anger around the world, the strikes have caused concern that the distribution of food aid in Gaza – which was already extremely limited – will become even more dangerous.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 May 2024
An hour later, Palestinian gunmen breached security barriers and infiltrated Israel by land, air and sea, killing 1,200 people, taking 253 hostages and touching off a bloody war that threatened to engulf the Middle East.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
Type 2 virus had been eradicated by then, and the only remaining type 2 polio cases were touched off by the live virus in the vaccine itself.
—Byleslie Roberts, science.org, 7 May 2024
The tension goes to the heart of a question that has touched off debate among observers and critics of the protests: At what point does pro-Palestinian political speech in a time of war cross the line into the type of antisemitism colleges have vowed to combat?
—Katherine Rosman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2024
The release of the documentary, directed by Samantha Stark, touched off an Internet firestorm and inspired celebrity apologies from Justin Timberlake, Perez Hilton and Sarah Silverman.
—Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The shooting touched off a firestorm in Newport News.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
Burnham’s death in 1985 touched off a series of events that began to change the country.
—Gaiutra Bahadur Keisha Scarville, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024
In addition to touching off anger around the world, the strikes have caused concern that the distribution of food aid in Gaza – which was already extremely limited – will become even more dangerous.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'touch off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near touch off
Cite this Entry
“Touch off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touch%20off. Accessed 20 May. 2024.
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