TOUCH OFF Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

touch off

verb

Definition of touch off

as in to trigger

to cause to function his obscene comment touched off a heated debate about the need for censorship on live broadcasts

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of touch off Trump’s tariffs on Canada, for example, have touched off a trade war with one of the United States’ closest allies. — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2026 That touched off several years of legal confusion, including lower court rulings that disagreed with each other. — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026 The controversy was touched off by a New York Post report that Gordillo lives in a spacious Bedford-Stuyvesant dwelling bought by his parents that is now undergoing renovations. — Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026 Meanwhile, an electric color palette of zingy greens, bold reds, and Prussian blues–touched off with plenty of black accents–amplifies the property’s wildly original juxtaposition of antiquity and modernity. — Alexandra Kirkman, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for touch off

Recent Examples of Synonyms for touch off

Verb

The clip physically holds these components in place, preventing the movement that could trigger an unintended detonation.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026
Whatever the source, the deluge of news can cause acute stress and anger, triggering a fight-or-flight response.

— Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of trigger

Verb

His go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2 after Seymour allowed Frelick’s tying home run.

— Ronald Blum, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie whose go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of spark

Verb

Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie whose go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
In recent years, General Motors has consistently sought to demonstrate that its investments in autonomous driving systems and software services can yield high margin revenue and open new growth frontiers.

— , CNBC, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of drive

Verb

Suspicions of state corruption in infrastructure projects two years ago set off a wave of street protests after a collapsed canopy at a train station in Serbia's north killed 16 people after a renovation.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026
Guichard Doré, a former adviser to President Jovenel Moïse, whose assassination in 2021 set off the current gang crisis, said Haitians are reaching a breaking point.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of set off

Verb

Beehive Industries has successfully tested a compact jet engine designed to power smaller US military drones and munitions.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
Nine of them will power the first stage, and the second stage will fly a single Clydesdale.

— Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of power

Verb

Those offseason moves, combined with the injuries, have withered the depth that had allowed Presti to be patient in trade negotiations during previous seasons, without feeling a need to make splashy midseason acquisitions.

— Andrew Greif, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
But Florida has decisively moved beyond an educational system dominated by a single operator — the school district — and toward a new construct where multiple operators provide choices for families.

— Thibaut Delloue, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026