Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A gentle touch or gesture of fondness, tenderness, or love.
- transitive verb To touch or stroke in an affectionate or loving manner.
- transitive verb To touch or move as if with a caress.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An act of endearment; an expression of affection by touch, as by stroking or patting with the hand: as, “conjugal caresses,”
- To bestow caresses upon; fondle.
- Hence— To treat with fondness, affection, or kindness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness.
- transitive verb To treat with tokens of fondness, affection, or kindness; to touch or speak to in a loving or endearing manner; to fondle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An act or expression of
affection ;Endearment . - noun A gentle stroking or rubbing.
- verb transitive To
touch orkiss lovingly; tofondle . - verb transitive To show and act on deep
closeness shared with another person. - verb transitive To affect as if with a caress.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a gentle affectionate stroking (or something resembling it)
- verb touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Indeed, the touching touch of the caress is touching (without touching) on the untouchable as inviolable, and the one stroking is always masculine and the stroked one (the untouchable) feminine
Crossroads of Philosophy and Cultural Studies: Body, Context, Performativity, Community 2008
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A caress might be a grope if it comes from an unwanted hand.
INSIDE OF A DOG ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ 2009
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A caress might be a grope if it comes from an unwanted hand.
INSIDE OF A DOG ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ 2009
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Roused Death: Death rose and smiled, and met her vain caress. xxvi
Shelley's Pod People 2005
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In the one case, such a caress is a bit of heaven to a husband, in the other it is a bit of hell!
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She went back, and with her hand upon his shoulder, leaned against him; and he put his arm around her, and drew her close, very close; and in the caress was the promise she asked.
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He lowered the gas, and as we walked out of the library laid his arm on my shoulder in a tender way, that I have never forgotten -- for a caress was a novelty from him.
Sea-Gift. A Novel. Edwin Wiley 1873
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He unclasped her arms from his neck -- their caress was a torture to him.
Wife in Name Only Charlotte M. Brame 1860
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A kiss and a laugh and a caress were the answer; and, while she bounded away, she would sing, in the words of the song --
Béarn and the Pyrenees A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre Louisa Stuart Costello 1834
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We have to kind of caress each person the right way.
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