CARESSING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does caressing mean? 

• CARESSING (noun)
  The noun CARESSING has 1 sense:

1. affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)

  Familiarity information: CARESSING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARESSING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

caressing; cuddling; fondling; hugging; kissing; necking; petting; smooching; snuggling

Hypernyms ("caressing" is a kind of...):

arousal; foreplay; stimulation (mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "caressing"):

snogging ((British informal) cuddle and kiss)

 Context examples 

"You don't want me, John?" Her voice was soft and caressing, her hand rested like a lure.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

When Thornton passed a caressing hand along his back, a snapping and crackling followed the hand, each hair discharging its pent magnetism at the contact.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And my dear boy, cried my mother, coming to the elbow-chair in which I was, and caressing me, my own little Davy!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

For reply, her mother's arm went around her, and a hand was softly caressing her hair.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He lifted bundle after bundle in a tender, caressing sort of way.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘My dear young lady! my dear young lady!’—you cannot think how caressing and soothing his manner was—‘and what has frightened you, my dear young lady?’

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I say, this is a pretty warm reception for a poor lone wolf from the Arctic," the master said, while White Fang calmed down under his caressing hand.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"I think I should back my little friend," said Lord John, caressing his Express.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As he stood, mute and grave, she again fell to caressing Carlo.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I'm going to take care of you, so don't cry any more, but come and walk about with me, the wind is too chilly for you to sit still, he said, in the half-caressing, half-commanding way that Amy liked, as he tied on her hat, drew her arm through his, and began to pace up and down the sunny walk under the new-leaved chestnuts.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)