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
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
As San Jose police and other law enforcement agencies converged on the site, authorities say Husien rushed a police sergeant who had just arrived and opened fire, touching off a close-range gunfight in which the sergeant was grazed in the head by a bullet.
—
Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
Both threats touched off fury in Europe, where governments had spent most of the past year making concessions to Trump on both military spending and tariffs.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Akbarin is a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former prime minister of the Islamic Republic whose reformist candidacy for the presidency touched off the 2009 Green Movement.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 20 Jan. 2026
The fatal encounter has touched off protests in Minneapolis and calls for accountability for immigration officers, whose tactics have resulted in at least 10 other shootings since September.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for touch off
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Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
Both threats touched off fury in Europe, where governments had spent most of the past year making concessions to Trump on both military spending and tariffs.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2026
Akbarin is a supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former prime minister of the Islamic Republic whose reformist candidacy for the presidency touched off the 2009 Green Movement.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 20 Jan. 2026
The fatal encounter has touched off protests in Minneapolis and calls for accountability for immigration officers, whose tactics have resulted in at least 10 other shootings since September.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for touch off
Cite this Entry
“Touch off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touch%20off. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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