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touch pad
noun
: a keypad for an electronic device (such as a microwave oven) that consists of a flat surface divided into several differently marked areas which are touched to choose options
Examples of touch pad in a Sentence
Press the start button on the touch pad.
Recent Examples on the Web
Interior Changes Set The Stage For Top-Shelf Luxury Innovation has long been the hallmark for Lexus: hybrid technology, touch pad controls (which were removed in the 2022 re-design) and the SUV itself; the RX was the first compact luxury SUV on the market and has been a best-seller since.
—Scotty Reiss, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2024
In an era before starting beeps, automatic electronic touch pads at the finish walls and instant replays, international swimming had a complex system of measuring a victory.
—Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2024
By the 1968 Olympic Games, both winter and summer, electronic timing systems were in wide use, including an insulated touch pad for swimming events developed by Bill Parkinson, a physics professor at the University of Michigan.
—Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2024
It can be controlled by speaking aloud, tapping a touch pad or projecting a laser display onto the palm of a hand.
—Photographs and Videos By Kelsey McClellan, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2023
There was no starting beep or automatic touch pads or accepted electronic timing or replays, as there are in major swimming competitions now.
—Frank Litsky, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2023
There looks to be one touch pad on the right controller — by comparison, the Steam Deck has touch pads on both sides — but the back of that right controller also apparently has a wheel.
—Jay Peters, The Verge, 17 Aug. 2023
In the first phase of the project, kids and visitors to the Field Museum tried their hands at community science — contributing to scientific discoveries not as scientists but as regular citizens — by measuring the tiny leaves of certain plants on a touch pad.
—Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 30 June 2022
Podcast host Brian Craig (@BrianCraigShow) offered a similar response and suggested touch pad ordering will be coming soon.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes, 19 May 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'touch pad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1974, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near touch pad
Cite this Entry
“Touch pad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/touch%20pad. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.
Kids Definition
touch pad
noun
: a keypad for an electronic device (as a microwave oven) that consists of a flat surface divided into several differently marked areas which are touched to choose options
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