How to Use touch off in a Sentence

touch off

verb
Definition of touch offnext
Synonyms for touch offnext
  • The hit out of bounds touched off a scuffle between the two teams near the Pell City sideline.
    — Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 26 Aug. 2023
  • The news touched off months of mass protests by millions against the AfD countrywide.
    — Christopher F. Schuetze, New York Times, 1 June 2024
  • The hats have touched off a widespread case of 313 fever as fans clamor on Facebook for more merch.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 12 June 2024
  • Burnham’s death in 1985 touched off a series of events that began to change the country.
    — Gaiutra Bahadur Keisha Scarville, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2024
  • The move touched off one of the most bizarre and byzantine scandals ever to hit the sports card industry.
    — Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Has plenty of skill with terrific passing touch off both sides of the blade.
    — Kyle Woodlief, USA TODAY, 7 July 2022
  • The screening touched off a bidding war, with A24 paying a seven-figure sum for the rights.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Apr. 2023
  • The attack touched off a fire that gutted the newsroom and studios, including the set for Mr. Choueiri’s show.
    — Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 23 June 2023
  • Video showed a shirtless white man shove Pickett in the chest before taking a swing at his face, touching off the brawl.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Yet the 2018 protests touched off in part by water scarcity show the political dangers of the problem for the regime.
    — Susanna Hoffman, National Review, 9 Jan. 2024
  • The Democrats, newly in power, had touched off the Marxist apocalypse.
    — Laura Jedeed, The New Republic, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Hamas touched off the crisis Oct. 7 with its deadly blitz into Israel.
    — Rick Noack, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Stewart knocked Corrales on all fours with a thundering right hand, touching off a fight between the teams.
    — Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The state appealed, which touched off legal wrangling about whether Cooper’s ruling should be put on hold while the appeal plays out.
    — Jim Saunders, Sun Sentinel, 18 June 2024
  • The summit coincided with the two-week mark of the war, touched off by a blitz into Israel by Hamas militants.
    — Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2023
  • Second baseman Brandon Lowe picked the ball up and fired an off-balance throw to the plate, but the pinch-runner Tyler Wade slid head-first, ahead of the throw, to touch off the celebration.
    — New York Times, 3 Oct. 2021
  • The report did touch off a flurry of coffee-spitting among Warriors’ fans, but that stuff wipes right off a computer screen.
    — Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 2 Dec. 2020
  • Brown’s decision to run for statewide office will touch off an open race to fill his congressional seat.
    — Bryn Stole, baltimoresun.com, 25 Oct. 2021
  • The front is expected to move slowly south overnight and could touch off more storms on Saturday over south Alabama.
    — Leigh Morgan, al, 21 July 2023
  • This has touched off a whole new round of legal motions to throw out drug convictions based on tainted evidence.
    — Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Feb. 2023
  • One of these crises, touched off in 2017 by Chinese road construction in the Doklam plateau in Bhutan, helped revive the Quad after several years of neglect.
    — Dhruva Jaishankar, Foreign Affairs, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Grabill’s selection of a bar date — a deadline which is standard in bankruptcy cases — could touch off a new wave of abuse claims against the local church.
    — Ramon Antonio Vargas | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, 17 Sep. 2020
  • Across the northern fringe of the heat dome, daily disturbances embedded in swift jet stream flow will touch off rounds of severe thunderstorms.
    — Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 7 July 2022
  • Heavy rain is likely regardless of whether Douglas makes a direct strike on one of the Hawaiian islands or just passes by, and could touch off mudslides and floods.
    — Fortune, 25 July 2020
  • The deaths touched off global outrage and intensified pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire with Hamas that would allow more aid into Gaza.
    — Michael Levenson, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
  • Type 2 virus had been eradicated by then, and the only remaining type 2 polio cases were touched off by the live virus in the vaccine itself.
    — Byleslie Roberts, science.org, 7 May 2024
  • In most other circumstances, the photoshopped image of Kate Middleton might not have touched off a firestorm.
    — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 13 Mar. 2024
  • Floyd's killing touched off protests around the country that continued for months and have led some police departments to examine their use-of-force policies.
    — Dale Ellis, Arkansas Online, 11 July 2023
  • Makes sublime little delay moves to buy time and space for his linemates to jump into holes, then dishes perfect feeds with fantastic touch off both sides of the blade.
    — Kyle Woodlief, USA TODAY, 28 June 2023
  • Military analysts say Russia lacks the troops to capture the city but could advance to within artillery range, touching off a larger flow of refugees.
    — Andrew E. Kramer Finbarr O’Reilly, New York Times, 22 May 2024

Some of 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.

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