Search the Dictionary

Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne.

A low stool to keep the goods from touching the floor. Knight.

rl. A stingy, narrow-hearted fellow that had a deal of choice fruit, had not the heart to touch it till it began to be rotten. L'estrange.

To paint, as in water colors, by small, short touches which together produce an even or softly graded surface.

A mode of execution in which a flat or even tint is produced by many small touches.

A stroke; a glance; a touch. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either with the hand or with any instrument or missile. He at Philippi kept His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius. Shak.

A gentle, caressing touch or movement upon something; a stroking. Dryden.

dancers. Sir W. Scott. (b) A dance performed over swords laid on the ground, but without touching them. -- Sword fight, fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords; swordplay. -- Sword grass. (Bot.) See Gladen. -- Sword knot, a ribbon tied to the hilt of a sword. -- Sword law, government by the sword, or by fo…

The sense of touch; feeling. Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight Southey. Now, sight is a very refined tact. J. Le Conte.

Capable of being touched; tangible. [R.] "They [women] being created to be both tractable and tactable." Massinger.

Of or pertaining to the organs, or the sense, of touch; perceiving, or perceptible, by the touch; capable of being touched; as, tactile corpuscles; tactile sensations. "Tactile sweets." Beaumont. "Tactile qualities." Sir M. Hale. Tactile sense (Physiol.), the sense of touch, or pressure sense. See Touch. The delicacy o…

The quality or state of being tactile; perceptibility by touch; tangibleness.

The act of touching; touch; contact; tangency. "External taction." Chesterfield.

Of or pertaining to the sense, or the organs, of touch; derived from touch. In the lowest organisms we have a kind of tactual sense diffused over the entire body. Tyndall.

To follow closely after; esp., to follow and touch in the game of tag. See Tag, a play.

To hit or touch lightly, in tilting. [Obs.] They tainted each other on the helms and passed by. Ld. Berners.

The quality or state of being tangent; a contact or touching.

of the arc subtending or measuring the angle. -- Tangent of an arc, a right line, as ta, touching the arc of a circle at one extremity a, and terminated by a line ct, passing from the center through the other extremity o.

Perceptible to the touch; tactile; palpable. Bacon.