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Touch vs Leave - What's the difference?

touch | leave |

As verbs the difference between touch and leave

is that touch is primarily physical senses while leave is to have a consequence or remnant or leave can be to give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant or leave can be (rare) to produce leaves or foliageoxford english dictionary , 2nd ed or leave can be (obsolete) to raise; to levy.

As nouns the difference between touch and leave

is that touch is an act of touching, especially with the hand or finger while leave is (cricket) the action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball or leave can be permission to be absent; time away from one's work.

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

    *

    leave

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) leven, from (etyl) (whence Danish levne). More at .

    Verb

  • To have a consequence or remnant.
  • #To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
  • #:
  • #*, chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}
  • #*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
  • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • #To cause, to result in.
  • #:
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
  • , title=, chapter=1 , passage=There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up
  • #*, chapter=23
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
  • #*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • #(lb) To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver, with a sense of withdrawing oneself.
  • #:
  • #*Bible, (w) v. 24
  • #*:Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • #*:The foot / That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.
  • (lb) To depart; to separate from.
  • #To let be or do without interference.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To depart from; to end one's connection or affiliation with.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.}}
  • #(lb) To end one's membership in (a group); to terminate one's affiliation with (an organization); to stop participating in (a project).
  • #:
  • #(lb) To depart; to go away from a certain place or state.
  • #:
  • (lb) To transfer something.
  • #(lb) To transfer possession of after death.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To give (something) to someone; to deliver (something) to a repository; to deposit.
  • #:
  • #(lb) To transfer responsibility or attention of (something) (to someone); to stop being concerned with.
  • #:
  • To remain (behind); to stay.
  • *:
  • *:And whanne sire launcelot sawe them fare soo / he gat a spere in his hand / and there encountred with hym al attones syr bors sir Ector and sire Lyonel / and alle they thre smote hym atte ones with their speres // and by mysfortune sir bors smote syre launcelot thurgh the shelde in to the syde / and the spere brake / and the hede lefte stylle in his syde
  • *
  • *:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
  • To stop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).
  • *1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , (w) V:
  • *:When he had leeft speakynge, he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nette to make a draught.
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:Now leave complaining and begin your tea.
  • Synonyms
    * (sense, to end one's connection with) depart, forget, leave behind
    Derived terms
    * beleave * forleave * leave behind * leave for dead * leave no stone unturned * leave nothing in the tank * leave someone hanging * leave someone high and dry * leave someone holding the bag * leave off * leave out * leave in the lurch * leave well enough alone * not leave one's thought * overleave * up and leave

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (cricket) The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
  • (billiards) The arrangement of balls in play that remains after a shot is made (which determines whether the next shooter — who may be either the same player, or an opponent — has good options, or only poor ones).
  • * 1890 February 27, "Slosson's Close Shave"], in [[w:New York Times, The New York Times] :
  • Having counted 38 points he tried a beautiful out of the corner, hit the first ball just a trife too hard and kissed his own ball off just when victory seemed to be his. The leave was unfortunate for Ives. Slosson played brilliantly and ran the game out, a close winner, with 22 points.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) leve, from (etyl) . Related to (etyl) verlof, (etyl) Erlaubnis. See also (l).

    Noun

    (-)
  • Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
  • I've been given three weeks' leave by my boss.
  • (senseid)(dated, or, legal) Permission.
  • Might I beg leave to accompany you?
    The applicant now seeks leave to appeal and, if leave be granted, to appeal against these sentences.
  • (dated) Farewell, departure.
  • I took my leave of the gentleman without a backward glance.
    Derived terms
    * administrative leave * annual leave * by your leave * compassionate leave * leave of absence * maternity leave * on leave * parental leave * paternity leave * shore leave * sick leave * take French leave * take leave * ticket-of-leave

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) leven, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant.
  • Etymology 4

    From (etyl) leven, from . More at (l).

    Verb

  • (rare) To produce leaves or foliage.Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed.
  • * 1868 , , The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám , 2nd edition:
  • Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say:
    Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?
    Synonyms
    * leaf (verb)

    Etymology 5

    See levy.

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To raise; to levy.
  • * Spenser
  • An army strong she leaved .

    References

    * *