‖ touché, int.
(tuʃe)
Occas. fem. touchée.
[Fr., pa. pple. of toucher to hit.]
a. Fencing. An exclamation used to acknowledge a hit.
| 1904 Red Book Feb. 382/1 ‘Touché!’ Jarsac growled sharply. 1958 A. West Princ. & Persuasions 202 These cosy thrusts will never slip between the ribs into the lungs; the weapons are not rapiers but buttoned foils that will bend double against a jacket and at most produce a murmur of ‘Touché’. |
b. A pleasant admission of a valid point or justified accusation made by another person.
| 1907 Everybody's Mag. XVI. 221/1 They did not cry touché, but the House cheered to the echo. 1912 E. C. Bentley Trent's Last Case xv. 322 ‘Touché’, Trent said, with a dry smile. 1928 Sat. Rev. 17 Nov. 649/1 Touché—I apologize to Messrs. Brown and Phillips for my lack of technical discernment. 1952 H. Innes Campbell's Kingdom i. iv. 81 ‘I'd my own reasons, the same as you have.’..‘Touchée,’ she said softly. 1981 A. Price Soldier no More 50 ‘Touché{ddd}’ he nodded, accepting the rebuke. |