touch off
Britishverb
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to cause to explode, as by touching with a match
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to cause (a disturbance, violence, etc) to begin
the marchers' action touched off riots
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Cause to explode or fire; also, initiate, trigger. For example, The boys touched off a whole line of firecrackers , or These disclosures will touch off a public uproar . This idiom comes from early firearms, which were set off by putting a light to the touch-hole. Its figurative use dates from the late 1800s.
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Depict very precisely, as in He touched off Teddy Roosevelt as well as it's ever been done . [Mid-1700s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Investors have backed away from financial stocks as their risk tolerance falls and fears mount that stalled oil trade will touch off a global energy crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
Substitute Harvey Elliott put Liverpool back in front after 105 minutes, his 20-yard shot taking a crucial touch off substitute Christian Eriksen to swerve tantalisingly out of the reach of Onana.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2024
Water can get into the liftgate control computer, causing an electrical short that can touch off a fire.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2023
Though lightning bolts can readily touch off fires in the dry season, they do not pose as great a threat now because the storms have also soaked the landscape with huge amounts of rain.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
Frustration over the lack of progress in housing and employment issues kept tensions high in Durham, with only a spark needed to touch off an explosion.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
