Totipalmate To`ti·pal"mate adjective [ Latin
totus all, whole + English
palmate .]
(Zoology) Having all four toes united by a web; -- said of certain sea birds, as the pelican and the gannet. See Illust. under Aves .
Totipalmi To`ti·pal"mi noun plural [ New Latin ,from Latin
totus all, whole +
palmus palm.]
(Zoology) A division of swimming birds including those that have totipalmate feet.
Totipresence To`ti·pres"ence noun [ Latin
totus all, whole + English
presence .]
Omnipresence. [ Obsolete]
A. Tucker.
Totipresent To`ti·pres"ent adjective [ Latin
totus all, whole + English
present .]
Omnipresent. [ Obsolete]
A. Tucker.
Totter Tot"ter intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Tottered ;
present participle & verbal noun Tottering .] [ Probably for older
tolter ; confer Anglo-Saxon
tealtrian to totter, vacillate. Confer
Tilt to incline,
Toddle ,
Tottle ,
Totty .]
1. To shake so as to threaten a fall; to vacillate; to be unsteady; to stagger; as, an old man totters with age. "As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a
tottering fence."
Ps. lxii. 3. 2. To shake; to reel; to lean; to waver. Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.
Dryden.
Totterer Tot"ter·er noun One who totters.
Totteringly Tot"ter·ing·ly adverb In a tottering manner.
Tottery Tot"ter·y adjective Trembling or vaccilating, as if about to fall; unsteady; shaking. Johnson.
Tottle Tot"tle (tŏt"t'l)
intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Tottled ;
present participle & verbal noun Tottling .] [ See
Toddle ,
Totter .]
To walk in a wavering, unsteady manner; to toddle; to topple. [ Colloq.]
Tottlish Tot"tlish (-tlĭsh)
adjective Trembling or tottering, as if about to fall; unsteady. [ Colloq. U. S.]
Totty Tot"ty adjective [ Middle English
toti . Confer
Totter .]
Unsteady; dizzy; tottery. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]
Sir W. Scott. For yet his noule [ head] was totty of the must.
Spenser.
Toty Tot"y adjective Totty. [ Obsolete]
My head is toty of my swink to-night.
Chaucer.
Toty To"ty noun A sailor or fisherman; -- so called in some parts of the Pacific.
Toucan Tou"can (tō"kăn; 277)
noun [ French, from Portuguese
tucano ; from Brazilian name. ]
1. (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of fruit-eating birds of tropical America belonging to Ramphastos , Pteroglossus , and allied genera of the family Ramphastidę . They have a very large, but light and thin, beak, often nearly as long as the body itself. Most of the species are brilliantly colored with red, yellow, white, and black in striking contrast. 2. (Astronom.) A modern constellation of the southern hemisphere.
Toucanet Tou"can·et noun (Zoology) A small toucan.
Touch Touch transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Touched ;
present participle & verbal noun Touching .] [ French
toucher , Old French
touchier ,
tuchier ; of Teutonic origin; confer Old High German
zucchen ,
zukken , to twitch, pluck, draw, German
zukken ,
zukken , v. intens. from Old High German
ziohan to draw, German
ziehen , akin to English
tug . See
Tuck ,
transitive verb ,
Tug , and confer
Tocsin ,
Toccata .]
1. To come in contact with; to hit or strike lightly against; to extend the hand, foot, or the like, so as to reach or rest on. Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear
Touched lightly.
Milton. 2. To perceive by the sense of feeling. Nothing but body can be touched or touch .
Greech. 3. To come to; to reach; to attain to. The god, vindictive, doomed them never more-
Ah, men unblessed! -- to touch their natal shore.
Pope. 4. To try; to prove, as with a touchstone. [ Obsolete]
Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed.
Shak. 5. To relate to; to concern; to affect. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone.
Shak. 6. To handle, speak of, or deal with; to treat of. Storial thing that toucheth gentilesse.
Chaucer. 7. To meddle or interfere with; as, I have not touched the books. Pope. 8. To affect the senses or the sensibility of; to move; to melt; to soften. What of sweet before
Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh.
Milton. The tender sire was touched with what he said.
Addison. 9. To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush. The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn right.
Pope. 10. To infect; to affect slightly. Bacon. 11. To make an impression on; to have effect upon. Its face . . . so hard that a file will not touch it.
Moxon. 12. To strike; to manipulate; to play on; as, to touch an instrument of music. [ They] touched their golden harps.
Milton. 13. To perform, as a tune; to play. A person is the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet.
Sir W. Scott. 14. To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly. " No decree of mine, . . . [ to]
touch with lightest moment of impulse his free will,"
Milton. 15. To harm, afflict, or distress. Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee.
Gen. xxvi. 28, 29. 16. To affect with insanity, especially in a slight degree; to make partially insane; -- rarely used except in the past participle. She feared his head was a little touched .
Ld. Lytton. 17. (Geom.) To be tangent to. See Tangent , adjective 18. To lay a hand upon for curing disease. To touch a sail (Nautical) ,
to bring it so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. --
To touch the wind (Nautical) ,
to keep the ship as near the wind as possible. --
To touch up ,
to repair; to improve by touches or emendation.
Touch Touch intransitive verb 1. To be in contact; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between; as, two spheres touch only at points. Johnson. 2. To fasten; to take effect; to make impression. [ R.]
Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch upon gold, that will not touch upon silver.
Bacon. 3. To treat anything in discourse, especially in a slight or casual manner; -- often with on or upon . If the antiquaries have touched upon it, they immediately
quitted it.
Addison. 4. (Naut) To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. To touch and go (Nautical) ,
to touch bottom lightly and without damage, as a vessel in motion. --
To touch at ,
to come or go to, without tarrying; as, the ship touched at Lisbon. --
To touch on or
upon ,
to come or go to for a short time. [ R.]
I made a little voyage round the lake, and touched on the several towns that lie on its coasts.
Addison.
Touch Touch noun [ Confer French
touche . See
Touch ,
v. ]
1. The act of touching, or the state of being touched; contact. Their touch affrights me as a serpent's sting.
Shak. 2. (Physiol.) The sense by which pressure or traction exerted on the skin is recognized; the sense by which the properties of bodies are determined by contact; the tactile sense. See Tactile sense , under Tactile . The spider's touch , how exquisitely fine.
Pope. » Pure tactile feelings are necessarily rare, since temperature sensations and muscular sensations are more or less combined with them. The organs of touch are found chiefly in the epidermis of the skin and certain underlying nervous structures.
3. Act or power of exciting emotion. Not alone
The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches ,
Do strongly speak to us.
Shak. 4. An emotion or affection. A true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy.
Hooker. 5. Personal reference or application. [ Obsolete]
Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.
Bacon. 6. A stroke; as, a touch of raillery; a satiric touch ; hence, animadversion; censure; reproof. I never bare any touch of conscience with greater regret.
Eikon Basilike. 7. A single stroke on a drawing or a picture. Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.
Dryden. 8. Feature; lineament; trait. Of many faces, eyes, and hearts,
To have the touches dearest prized.
Shak. 9. The act of the hand on a musical instrument; bence, in the plural, musical notes. Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Shak. 10. A small quantity intermixed; a little; a dash. Eyes La touch of Sir Peter Lely in them.
Hazlitt. Madam, I have a touch of your condition.
Shak. 11. A hint; a suggestion; slight notice. A small touch will put him in mind of them.
Bacon. 12. A slight and brief essay. [ Colloq.]
Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch .
Swift. 13. A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone. [ Obsolete] " Now do I play the
touch ."
Shak. A neat new monument of touch and alabaster.
Fuller. 14. Hence, examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality. Equity, the true touch of all laws.
Carew. Friends of noble touch .
Shak. 15. (Mus.) The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers; as, a heavy touch , or a light touch ; also, the manner of touching, striking, or pressing the keys of a piano; as, a legato touch ; a staccato touch . 16. (Shipbilding) The broadest part of a plank worked top and but (see Top and but , under Top , noun ), 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. J. Knowles. 17. (Football) That part of the field which is beyond the line of flags on either side. Encyc. of Rural Sports. 18. A boys' game; tag. In touch (Football) ,
outside of bounds. T. Hughes. --
To be in touch ,
to be in contact, or in sympathy. --
To keep touch .
(a) To be true or punctual to a promise or engagement [ Obsolete]; hence, to fulfill duly a function. My mind and senses keep touch and time.
Sir W. Scott. (b) To keep in contact; to maintain connection or sympathy; -- with with or of . --
Touch and go ,
a phrase descriptive of a narrow escape. --
True as touch (
i. e. ,
touchstone ),
quite true. [ Obsolete]
Touch Touch transitive verb 1. To compare with; of be equal to; -- usually with a negative; as, he held that for good cheer nothing could touch an open fire. [ Colloq.]
2. To induce to give or lend; to borrow from; as, to touch one for a loan; hence, to steal from. [ Slang]
Touch Touch noun 1. (Change Ringing) A set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, that is, less than 5,040. 2. An act of borrowing or stealing. [ Slang]
3. Tallow; -- a plumber's term. [ Eng.]
Touch-box Touch"-box` noun A box containing lighted tinder, formerly carried by soldiers who used matchlocks, to kindle the match.
Touch-me-not Touch"-me-not` noun (Botany) (a) See Impatiens . (b) Squirting cucumber. See under Cucumber .
Touch-needle Touch"-nee`dle noun (Metal.) A small bar of gold and silver, either pure, or alloyed in some known proportion with copper, for trying the purity of articles of gold or silver by comparison of the streaks made by the article and the bar on a touchstone.
Touch-paper Touch"-pa`per noun Paper steeped in saltpeter, which burns slowly, and is used as a match for firing gunpowder, and the like.
Touchable Touch"a·ble adjective Capable of being touched; tangible. --
Touch"a*ble*ness ,
noun
Touchback Touch"back` noun (G) The act of touching the football down by a player behind his own goal line when it received its last impulse from an opponent; -- distinguished from safety touchdown.
Touchdown Touch"down` noun (Football) The act of touching the football down behind the opponents' goal . Safety touchdown .
See under Safety .
Touchhole Touch"hole` noun The vent of a cannot or other firearm, by which fire is communicateed to the powder of the charge.
Touchily Touch"i·ly adverb In a touchy manner.
Touchiness Touch"i·ness noun The quality or state of being touchy peevishness; irritability; irascibility.
Touching Touch"ing adjective Affecting; moving; pathetic; as, a touching tale. --
Touch"ing*ly adverb
Touching Touch"ing preposition Concerning; with respect to. Now, as touching things offered unto idols.
1 Cor. viii. 1.
Touching Touch"ing noun The sense or act of feeling; touch.
Touchstone Touch"stone` noun 1. (Min.) Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite . 2. Fig.:
Any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing are tried. Hooker. The foregoing doctrine affords us also a touchstone for the trial of spirits.
South. Irish touchstone (Min.) ,
basalt, the stone which composes the Giant's Causeway.
Touchwood Touch"wood` noun [ Probably for
tachwood ; Middle English
tache tinder (of uncertain origin) +
wood .]
1. Wood so decayed as to serve for tinder; spunk, or punk. 2. Dried fungi used as tinder; especially, the Polyporus igniarius .
Touchy Touch"y adjective [ For
techy ,
tetchy .]
Peevish; irritable; irascible; techy; apt to take fire. [ Colloq.]
It may be said of Dryden that he was at no time touchy about personal attacks.
Saintsbury.
Tough Tough adjective [
Compar. Tougher ;
superl. Toughest .] [ Middle English
tough , Anglo-Saxon
tōh , akin to Dutch
taai , LG.
taa ,
tage ,
tau , Old High German
zāhi , G.
zähe , and also to Anglo-Saxon ge
tenge near to, close to, oppressive, Old Saxon bi
tengi .]
1. Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough . "
Tough roots and stubs. "
Milton. 2. Not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews. Cowper. A body made of brass, the crone demands, . . .
Tough to the last, and with no toil to tire.
Dryden. The basis of his character was caution combined with tough tenacity of purpose.
J. A. Symonds. 3. Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm. 4. Stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow. So tough a frame she could not bend.
Dryden. 5. Severe; violent; as, a tough storm. [ Colloq.] " A
tough debate. "
Fuller. To make it tough ,
to make it a matter of difficulty; to make it a hard matter. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Tough-cake Tough"-cake` noun See Tough- pitch (b) .
Tough-head Tough"-head` noun (Zoology) The ruddy duck. [ Local U. S. ]
Tough-pitch Tough"-pitch` noun (Metal.) (a) The exact state or quality of texture and consistency of well reduced and refined copper. (b) Copper so reduced; -- called also tough-cake .
Toughen Tough"en intransitive verb & t. [
imperfect & past participle Toughened ;
present participle & verbal noun Toughening .]
To grow or make tough, or tougher.
Toughish Tough"ish adjective Tough in a slight degree.
Toughly Tough"ly adverb In a tough manner.
Toughness Tough"ness noun The quality or state of being tough.
Touite Tou"ite noun The wood warbler. [ Prov. Eng.]
Toupee Tou·pee" (?; 277),
Tou*pet" (?; 277) ,
noun [ French
toupet , dim. of Old French
top a tuft; of Teutonic origin, and akin to English
top . See
Top apex, and confer
Topet .]
1. A little tuft; a curl or artificial lock of hair. 2. A small wig, or a toppiece of a wig. Her powdered hair is turned backward over a toupee .
G. Eliot.
Toupettit Tou"pet·tit noun [ See
Topet ,
toupee .]
(Zoology) The crested titmouse. [ Prov. Eng.]
Tour Tour noun [ French
tour . See
Tower .]
A tower. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Tour Tour noun [ French
tour . See
Turn ,
transitive verb ]
1. A going round; a circuit; hence, a journey in a circuit; a prolonged circuitous journey; a comprehensive excursion; as, the tour of Europe; the tour of France or England. The bird of Jove stooped from his airy tour .
Milton. 2. A turn; a revolution; as, the tours of the heavenly bodies. [ Obsolete]
Blackmore. 3. (Mil.) anything done successively, or by regular order; a turn; as, a tour of duty. Syn. -- Journey; excursion. See
Journey .
Tour Tour intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Toured ;
present participle & verbal noun Touring .]
To make a tourm; as, to tour throught a country. T. Hughes.