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.
His hospitalization and photos showing an uncomfortable and grimacing pope being helped to move after the Wednesday audience touched off a flurry of speculation and a global prayer chain as Catholic leaders called for intercession.
From Washington Times
The criticism has touched off a debate about whether it is appropriate to pull out knitting needles in video huddles.
From New York Times
It also allowed lawmakers and successive administrations to avoid touching off politically fraught debates over the rising costs, Bilmes said.
From Seattle Times
One Federal Reserve official has suggested the trouble that Silicon Valley Bank touched off makes a recession more likely.
From New York Times
The subpoena from Mr. McCaul is likely to touch off a legal fight with the State Department over the cable.
From Washington Times
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.
