touch off
verb
touched off; touching off; touches off
1
a
: to provoke or initiate with sudden intensity
the verdict touched off local riots
b
: to cause to explode by or as if by touching with fire
2
: to describe or characterize with precision
Synonyms
Examples of touch off in a Sentence
his obscene comment touched off a heated debate about the need for censorship on live broadcasts
Recent Examples on the Web
That $5 trillion pool of capital globally has touched off a feeding frenzy on Wall Street to help family offices manage their money.
—
Robert Frank, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
The formation of the Harris/Walz ticket has touched off an intense national debate over... punctuation.
—Mike Allen, Axios, 14 Aug. 2024
Until a goofy tweet in February 2011 touched off a goofy Kickstarter campaign and endless roadblocks, for instance, he had never been interviewed on an Australian morning-zoo radio show.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 11 July 2024
Tim Walz was just over a year into his first term as Minnesota governor when a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020, touching off a generation-defining summer of global protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
—Christian Paz, Vox, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for touch off 
Robert Frank, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
The formation of the Harris/Walz ticket has touched off an intense national debate over... punctuation.
—Mike Allen, Axios, 14 Aug. 2024
Until a goofy tweet in February 2011 touched off a goofy Kickstarter campaign and endless roadblocks, for instance, he had never been interviewed on an Australian morning-zoo radio show.
—Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 11 July 2024
Tim Walz was just over a year into his first term as Minnesota governor when a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020, touching off a generation-defining summer of global protests against police brutality and racial inequality.
—Christian Paz, Vox, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for touch off
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'touch off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near touch off
Cite this Entry
“Touch off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touch%20off. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
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