- contact
- contact n Contact, touch mean the state or fact of coming into direct connection or close association with someone or something.Contact implies the mutual relation between two bodies that impinge upon each other{
the tangent at its point of contact with the circle
}{the two boats are coming into contact
}{break the contact in an electric circuit
}Touch primarily implies the action involved when a tactile organ, especially of a human being, comes in contact with someone or something or the sensation involved when one feels through a tactile organ the presence of another person or object{one touch of the snake was enough to make her scream
}{ruffian! let go that rude uncivil touch— Shak.
}{but O for the touch of a vanished hand— Tennyson
}Although these two words are often interchangeable in general use, contact may be preferable when the intent is to stress a connection or association whether between bodies, between persons, or between persons and things and the sensation or emotional response is not emphasized, or when an impersonal or unexplicit word without clearly defined connotations is wanted{the New York firm established business contacts in Australia
}{an adult with whom a child is in constant contact may easily become . . . dominant in the child's life— Russell
}{it was her first contact with the nether side of the smooth social surface— Wharton
}{his mind turned away from the hunger for human contact— Anderson
}On the other hand touch is usually preferable when the idea of the sensation or of the emotion involved is more important than the abstract or literal idea of coming into contact or when lightness or delicacy is to be implied{the whole secret ... lay in the development of the sense of touch in the feet, which comes with years of night rambling in little-trodden spots— Hardy
}{she felt his nearness intimately, like a touch— Conrad
}{lost touch with all his old friends
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
