touch a nerve
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.11 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Louis B. Seltzer, editor of the Cleveland Press, . . . banged out an editorial that raised uncomfortable questions about the state of the U.S. at a moment of world responsibility. His piece touched a nerve: in the following week, 1,000 people had tried to reach him by phone or written him letters or stopped him on the street to talk about it."
- "The austerity of my tone seemed to touch a nerve and kindle the fire that always slept in this vermilion-headed menace to the common weal, for she frowned a displeased frown and told me for heaven's sake to stop goggling like a dead halibut."
- "The president's supporters . . . are trying to exert greater control over universities, touching a nerve among an increasingly defiant student movement."