touch off

verb

1. to cause to explode, as by touching with a match

2. to cause (a disturbance, violence, etc) to begin

   the marchers' action touched off riots

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Depict very precisely, as in He touched off Teddy Roosevelt as well as it's ever been done . [Mid-1700s]

Related Words

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• anger 
• animate 
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• energize 
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• work up 
• worry