Touch vs Late - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between touch and late

is that touch is an act of touching, especially with the hand or finger while late is (kind of) hatchet, axe, chopper.

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

Anagrams

* 1000 English basic words

late

English

Adjective

(er)

Near the end of a period of time.

Specifically, near the end of the day.

(usually, not used comparatively) Associated with the end of a period.

Not arriving until after an expected time.

Not having had an expected menstrual period.

(deceased)(not comparable, euphemistic) Deceased, dead:

* , chapter=12

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}

Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.

Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.

* 1914 , (Robert Frost), (North of Boston) , "A Hundred Collars":

Lancaster bore him — such a little town, / Such a great man. It doesn't see him often / Of late years, though he keeps the old homestead / And sends the children down there with their mother

Usage notes

* (deceased) (term) in this sense is unusual among English adjectives in that it qualifies named individuals (in phrases like (term)) without creating a contrast with another Mary who is not late. Contrast (hungry): a phrase like (term) is usually only used if another Mary is under discussion who is not hungry.

Noun

(en noun)

(informal) A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.

* 2007 , Paul W Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue

At about 11 pm one night in Corporation Street my watch were on van patrol and Yellow Watch were on lates as usual.

Adverb

(er)

After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.

We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late .

formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.

:Colonel Easterwood, late of the 34th Carbines, was a guest at the dinner party.

Derived terms

* a day late and a dollar short * as of late * better late than never * * late bloomer * latecomer * late in the day * late in the game * lately * late night * later * sooner or later

References

* 2009 April 3, , "Re: Has 'late' split up into a pair of homonyms?", message-ID <bdb13686-a6e4-43cd-8445-efe353365394@l13g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, alt.usage.english'' and ''sci.lang , Usenet.

Statistics

Anagrams

* * * * * * * 1000 English basic words ----