touches off

verb

present tense third-person singular of touch off
as in triggers
to cause to function his obscene comment touched off a heated debate about the need for censorship on live broadcasts

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 touches off But on its way to him, the ball took the smallest of touches off teammate Igor Matanović. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for touches off
  1. triggers
  2. activates
  3. sparks
  4. drives
  5. powers
  6. sets off
  7. moves
Verb
  • The outsider girl’s innocent invasion may just be the thing that finally triggers a war.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Getting at least four stars triggers bonuses, which total $13 billion across the industry annually.
    — Bob Herman, STAT, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of triggers
Verb
  • The agency rejected the recommendation, saying that using cameras that automatically activate when an officer pulls their weapon or activates a car siren could risk privacy concerns.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
  • And a few are very highly specific, such as the protease that activates insulin, which only cuts near a very specific series of amino acids.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of activates
Verb
  • Nothing sparks joy and jumpstarts the Christmas season like a food advent calendar.
    — Alaina Chou, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
  • This one, steeped in milk and cream, sparks off the roof of your mouth with a gentle chile burn and the pleasantly numbing zap of cloves.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of sparks
Verb
  • New seeker drives precision At the heart of PAC-3 Edge sits an advanced seeker developed at Lockheed Martin’s Strigo Product Center.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Waymo’s new autonomous vehicle, called the Ojai, drives in Venice Beach, California, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
    — Henry Payne, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of drives
Verb
  • Researchers are adapting the magnetron—the same component that powers microwave ovens—to provide the 10 megawatts of power required for ADS.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 19 Feb. 2026
  • How Wisconsin's solar battery park powers 130,000 homes The Paris Solar farm began producing power in December 2024 and generates 200 megawatts of renewable electricity during the day.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025
Definition of powers
Verb
  • Cruise stars as Digger Rockwell, an aging oil magnate whose drilling sets off an ecological disaster.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Ultimately, Miles sacrifices himself so that the others can escape, holding onto the detonator that sets off a massive explosion until his final breath.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of sets off
Verb
  • Such plaudits raise the question of how Movistar Plus moves forward from here.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The mountains east to Hickory could see an average 3 or 4 inches of rain before the system moves from the region by Sunday afternoon, NWS meteorologist Chris Horne told The Charlotte Observer.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of moves

Browse Nearby Words

touches down
touches off
touches (on)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Touches off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/touches%20off. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of syncretic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All