FONDLING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fondling mean? 

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

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

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• FONDLING (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 ("fondling" is a kind of...):

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

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

snogging ((British informal) cuddle and kiss)

Derivation:

fondle (touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner)

 Context examples 

“This is my little elephant, sir,” said Mr. Omer, fondling the child.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

My own Betsey (fondling her), you have not the luck of such a good godmother.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Tim Keenan stepped in and bent over Cherokee, fondling him on both sides of the shoulders with hands that rubbed against the grain of the hair and that made slight, pushing-forward movements.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Their parents are suffered to see them only twice a year; the visit is to last but an hour; they are allowed to kiss the child at meeting and parting; but a professor, who always stands by on those occasions, will not suffer them to whisper, or use any fondling expressions, or bring any presents of toys, sweetmeats, and the like.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“He is your brother,” said my mother, fondling me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)