retouch

[ verb ree-tuhch; noun ree-tuhch, ree-tuhch ]

/ verb riˈtʌtʃ; noun ˈriˌtʌtʃ, riˈtʌtʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR retouch ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to improve with new touches, highlights, or the like; touch up or rework, as a painting or makeup.

Photography. to alter (a negative or positive) after development by adding or removing lines, lightening areas, etc., with a pencil, brush, or knife.

to dye, tint, or bleach (a new growth of hair) to match or blend with the color of an earlier and previously dyed growth.

noun

an added touch to a picture, painting, paint job, etc., by way of improvement or alteration.

an act or instance of dyeing new growth of hair to blend with previously dyed hair.

Nearby words

Origin of retouch

1675–85; < Middle French retoucher, equivalent to re- re- + toucher to touch

Related formsre·touch·a·ble, adjectivere·touch·er, nounun·re·touched, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for retouch

They tell me I am grown fatter, and look better; and, on Monday, Jervas is to retouch my picture.
The Journal to Stella|Jonathan Swift
In most plano-convex examples, the plane face is unmodified except for retouch.
Handbook of Alabama Archaeology: Part I Point Types|James W. Cambron
Give me my palette; I want to retouch the forehead of my hero.
Macaria|Augusta Jane Evans Wilson
The two examples with plano-convex cross-sections were unmodified on the plano face except for retouch along the edges.
Handbook of Alabama Archaeology: Part I Point Types|James W. Cambron

Every reader must make great allowances for a Poet, who was so often obliged to retouch and to diversify subjects of one kind.
An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients|John Ogilvie

British Dictionary definitions for retouch

retouch

/ (riːˈtʌtʃ) /

verb (tr)

to restore, correct, or improve (a painting, make-up, etc) with new touches

photog to alter (a negative or print) by painting over blemishes or adding details

to make small finishing improvements to

archaeol to detach small flakes from (a stone) in order to make a tool

noun

the art or practice of retouching

a detail that is the result of retouching

a photograph, painting, etc, that has been retouched

archaeol fine percussion to shape flakes of stone into usable tools

Derived Formsretouchable, adjectiveretoucher, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for retouch