touching base

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiominformalbusiness

   Making brief contact with someone, often to share news or check how things are going.

   Grammar: Usually follows a form of be or a verb like keep: I'm touching base with the team.

   Patterns

   • touch base with someone
   • touch base about something

   I'm just touching base to see whether you received the contract.

   We keep touching base every Friday to review progress.

   Thanks for touching base; I'll send the update tomorrow.

2. 2phraseidiominformal

   Briefly visiting or revisiting a place, topic or starting point before moving on.

   Grammar: Often followed by with or before: touching base with old friends.

   Patterns

   • touch base with something

   She spent the weekend touching base with old friends in her hometown.

   He is touching base with the basics before starting the advanced course.

Word forms

Common combinations

touching base with a client

She is touching base with a client about the deadline.

just touching base

I'm just touching base to confirm our meeting.

touch base later

Let's touch base later this week.

touching base regularly

Touching base regularly keeps remote teams connected.

touch base again

I'll touch base again once I have the figures.

Synonyms and how they differ

checking in

Checking in suggests a quick look at how someone is doing, while touching base can also cover sharing business updates.

catching up

Catching up implies exchanging news after some time apart, so it sounds warmer and less businesslike.

getting in touch

Getting in touch is more neutral and simply means making contact, with no hint of a routine check.

following up

Following up means contacting someone about something already discussed, which is narrower than touching base.

Opposites

Word family

touch verb

to make contact with

base noun

a starting or safe point

touchpoint noun

a moment of contact between people or a business and a customer

Commonly confused: touching base or keep in touch?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “touching base”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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