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Touch vs Couch - What's the difference?

touch | couch |

As nouns the difference between touch and couch

is that touch is an act of touching, especially with the hand or finger while couch is couch.

As a verb touch

is primarily physical senses.

touch

English

Verb

(es)
  • Primarily physical senses.
  • # (label) To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
  • # (label) To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
  • # (label) To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
  • # (label) To make physical contact with a thing.
  • # (label) To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
  • #* (Bible), (w) xxvi. 28, 29
  • Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee.
  • # (label) To physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
  • # (label) To consume, or otherwise use.
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • # (label) Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at).
  • #* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) :
  • Now a certain grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its commander — from all accounts, a very stately punctilious gentleman, at least for a sea captain — this commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a pretty young princess just turned of ten.
  • #
  • #* 1971 , , Religion and the Decline of Magic , Folio Society (2012), page 189:
  • But in fact the English kings of the seventeenth century usually began to touch form the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration.
  • #
  • # To fasten; to take effect; to make impression.
  • #* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch' upon gold, that will not ' touch upon silver.
  • # (label) To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  • # To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  • # (label) To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible.
  • Primarily non-physical senses.
  • # (label) To imbue or endow with a specific quality.
  • #
  • #*, I.2.4.vii:
  • Next to sorrow still I may annex such accidents as procure fear; for besides those terrors which I have before touched ,which much trouble many of us.
  • # (label) To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on'' or ''upon something).
  • #* 1886 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde)
  • "Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the last time I hope," continued the doctor, "there is one point I should like you to understand."
  • # (label) To concern, to have to do with.
  • #* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , (w) V:
  • Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye entende to do as touchinge these men.
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}
  • #* 1919 , (Saki), ‘The Penance’, The Toys of Peace , Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 423:
  • And now it seemed he was engaged in something which touched them closely, but must be hidden from their knowledge.
  • # (label) To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in.
  • #
  • #
  • # (label) To obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend).
  • #
  • # (label) To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality.
  • #* 1928 , , "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers", in (Lord Peter Views the Body) ,
  • There was his mistress, Maria Morano. I don't think I've ever seen anything to touch her, and when you work for the screen [as I do] you're apt to have a pretty exacting standard of female beauty.
  • #* 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  • On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%.
  • # To mark (a file or document) as having been modified.
  • To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I mean to touch your love indeed.
  • To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn right.
  • (label) To infect; to affect slightly.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To strike; to manipulate; to play on.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • [They] touched their golden harps.
  • To perform, as a tune; to play.
  • * Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet.
  • To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • No decree of mine,[to] touch with lightest moment of impulse his free will.

    Derived terms

    * touch a nerve * touch base * touch bottom * touch down * touch off * touch on * touch the hem of someone's garment * touch up * touch wood

    Noun

    (es)
  • An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
  • Suddenly, in the crowd, I felt a touch at my shoulder.
  • The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
  • With the lights out, she had to rely on touch to find her desk.
  • The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument.
  • He performed one of Ravel's piano concertos with a wonderfully light and playful touch .
  • A distinguishing feature or characteristic.
  • Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.
  • A little bit; a small amount.
  • Move it left just a touch and it will be perfect.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Madam, I have a touch of your condition.
  • The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
  • He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch .
  • A relationship of close communication or understanding.
  • He promised to keep in touch while he was away.
  • The ability to perform a task well; aptitude.
  • I used to be a great chess player but I've lost my touch .
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 29 , author=Jon Smith , title=Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Rovers' hopes of pulling off one of the great European shocks of all time lasted just 10 minutes before Spurs finally found their scoring touch .}}
  • Act or power of exciting emotion.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Not alone / The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches , / Do strongly speak to us.
  • An emotion or affection.
  • * Hooker
  • a true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy
  • Personal reference or application.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.
  • A single stroke on a drawing or a picture.
  • * Dryden
  • Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.
  • A brief essay.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch .
  • A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Now do I play the touch .
  • * Fuller
  • a neat new monument of touch and alabaster
  • Examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality.
  • * Carew
  • equity, the true touch of all laws
  • * Shakespeare
  • friends of noble touch
  • The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers.
  • a heavy touch''', or a light '''touch
  • The broadest part of a plank worked top and but, or of one worked anchor-stock fashion (that is, tapered from the middle to both ends); also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters.
  • The children's game of tag.
  • Derived terms

    * common touch * in touch * light touch * lose one's touch * lose touch * out of touch * soft touch * touch football * touch-kick * touchless * touch oneself * touch-paper * touch piece * touch-type

    Statistics

    *

    couch

    English

    (wikipedia couch)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from the verb .

    Noun

    (es)
  • An item of furniture for the comfortable seating of more than one person.
  • Bed, resting-place.
  • * (seeCites)
  • * Shakespeare
  • Gentle sleep why liest thou with the vile / In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch ?
  • * Bryant
  • Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch / About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […]  The bed was the most extravagant piece.  Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.}}
  • A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
  • (art, painting and gilding)  A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.
  • Synonyms
    * (item of furniture) davenport, divan, settee, sofa
    Derived terms
    * couch doctor * couch surfing * uncouched * fly couch
    Descendants
    * German: (l)
    See also
    * armchair * love seat * chesterfield

    Verb

    (es)
  • To lie down; to recline (upon a couch or other place of repose).
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
  • Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand.
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
  • If I court moe women, you'll couch with moe men.
  • * {{quote-video
  • , year = 1994 , title = (Reality Bites) , people = (Winona Ryder) , role = Lelaina Pierce , passage = All you do around here, Troy, is eat and couch and fondle the remote control. }}
  • To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.
  • * (rfdate) Shakespeare
  • We'll couch in the castle ditch, till we see the light of our fairies.
  • * (rfdate) I. Taylor
  • the half-hidden, hallf-revealed wonders, that yet couch beneath the words of the Scripture
  • To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.
  • * (rfdate) (Spenser)
  • an aged squire that seemed to couch under his shield three-square
  • To lay something upon a bed or other resting place.
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
  • Where unbruised youth, with unstuffed brain, / Does couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.
  • To arrange or dispose as if in a bed.
  • * (rfdate) T. Burnet
  • The waters couch themselves as may be to the centre of this globe, in a spherical convexity.
  • To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.
  • * (rfdate) (Francis Bacon)
  • It is at this day in use at Gaza, to couch potsherds, or vessels of earth, in their walls.
  • (paper-making) To transfer (e.g. sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire mould to a felt blanket for further drying.
  • (medicine) To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle.
  • to couch a cataract
  • To lower (a spear or lance) to the position of attack.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • He stooped his head, and couched his spear , / And spurred his steed to full career.
    Synonyms
    * : lie down, recline

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) couchier

    Verb

    (es)
  • To phrase in a particular style, to use specific wording for.
  • He couched it as a request, but it was an order.
  • * (rfdate) (Blackwood Magazine)
  • I had received a letter from Flora couched in rather cool terms.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=June 26 , author=Genevieve Koski , title=Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=More significantly, rigid deference to Bieber’s still-young core fan base keeps things resolutely PG, with any acknowledgement of sex either couched in vague “touch your body” workarounds or downgraded to desirous hand-holding and eye-gazing.}}
  • (archaic) To conceal; to hide
  • * 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems , Dialogue 2:
  • You have overlooked a fallacy couched in the experiment of the stick.
    Synonyms
    * (phrase in a particular style) explain, express, phrase, term, word

    Etymology 3

    From quitch, from (etyl) cwice, from (etyl) kweke.

    Noun

    (-)
  • couch grass, a species of persistent grass, Elymus repens , usually considered a weed.
  • Synonyms
    * (Elymus repens) twitch, , quackgrass, scutch grass, witchgrass
    See also
    * (Elymus repens)