tongs vs touch

tongs

noun
  • An instrument or tool used for picking things up without touching them with the hands or fingers, consisting of two slats or grips hinged at the end or in the middle, and sometimes including a spring to open the grips. 

  • A large scissors-like two-piece center-hinged forged-iron implement with oval-loop handles and with pointed tips turned inward (in the same plane as and perpendicular to the handles) to facilitate lifting and carrying a block of ice. Often called ice tongs. 

touch

noun
  • The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers. 

  • The ability to perform a task well; aptitude. 

  • The children's game of tag. 

  • A set of changes less than the total possible on seven bells, i.e. less than 5,040. 

  • An act of borrowing or stealing something. 

  • The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines. 

  • The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact. 

  • A distinguishing feature or characteristic. 

  • A single stroke on a drawing or a picture. 

  • The broadest part of a plank worked top and but, or of one worked anchor-stock fashion (that is, tapered from the middle to both ends); also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters. 

  • The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument. 

  • A disposal of the ball during a game, i.e. a kick or a handball. 

  • An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger. 

  • A little bit; a small amount. 

  • A relationship of close communication or understanding. 

  • Form; standard of performance. 

verb
  • To make intimate physical contact with a person. 

  • To cause to be briefly in contact with something. 

  • To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on or upon something). 

  • To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with. 

  • To perform, as a tune; to play. 

  • To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. 

  • To strike; to manipulate; to play on. 

  • To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact. 

  • To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect. 

  • To concern, to have to do with. 

  • To make physical contact with a thing. 

  • To lay hands on (someone suffering from scrofula) as a form of cure, as formerly practised by English and French monarchs. 

  • To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush. 

  • To imbue or endow with a specific quality. 

  • To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly. 

  • To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes. 

  • To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact. 

  • To try; to prove, as with a touchstone. 

  • To give royal assent to by touching it with the sceptre. 

  • To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality. 

  • Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at). 

  • To physically affect in specific ways implied by context. 

  • To consume, or otherwise use. 

  • To sexually excite with the fingers; to finger or masturbate. 

  • To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible. 

  • To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in. 

  • To mark (a file or document) as having been modified. 

  • To obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend). 

  • To disturb the mental functions of; to make somewhat insane; often followed with "in the head". 

  • To come close to; to approach. 

How often have the words tongs and touch occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )