Idiom
lay a finger on
Meaning
To merely touch.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Don't you dare lay a finger on my cake.”
“The angry man warned the thief not to lay a finger on his expensive car.”
“The protective mother declared that no one should lay a finger on her child while she was still breathing.”
Examples
simple
“Don't you dare lay a finger on my cake.”
contextual
“The angry man warned the thief not to lay a finger on his expensive car.”
complex
“The protective mother declared that no one should lay a finger on her child while she was still breathing.”
Origin
From the Middle English phrase *fynger on (hem) to leyn*, recorded as a description of touching another person with hostile intent. The structure persists as a surviving trace of the mediaeval idiom, which specifically denoted the application of physical force or the initiation of an assault.
Key words
Related idioms
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