touch off

verb

touched off; touching off; touches off

transitive verb

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 of touch off

• trigger
• activate
• spark
• drive
• set off
• power
• move

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

The rule was not intended to apply to those from the 2022 class who had exhausted their eligibility, touching off a wave of lawsuits filed by athletes in a variety of sports all over the country. — Dave Skretta, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026

The change touched off an explosion of betting across America. — David K. Li, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026

CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks were our two biggest winners last week — both up more than 11% as news of the security flaws in the PHP programming language touched off a global security scramble. — Alexa Lomonaco, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026

The meeting touched off a month of around-the-clock calls and video conferences. — Cate Brown, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1694, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for touch off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

touch off

verb

: to start by or as if by touching with fire

the announcement touched off riots