knead

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• transitive verb To mix and work into a uniform mass, as by folding, pressing, and stretching with the hands.
• transitive verb To make or shape by or as if by folding, pressing, and stretching with the hands.
• transitive verb To squeeze, press, or roll with the hands, as in massaging.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To manipulate by squeezing, pressing, or thumping different parts of; work upon by successive thumps or compressions: as, to knead a person's limbs in the operation of massage.
• Specifically To work upon, as plastic materials, by repeatedly pressing or squeezing; prepare or mix by working over and over with the hands or by tools or machinery, as dough for bread or clay for bricks.
• Hence To mix thoroughly; incorporate; form into a homogeneous compound.
• To make by kneading.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; esp., to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, as the materials of bread, cake, etc..
• transitive verb Fig.: To treat or form as by kneading; to beat.
• transitive verb To press repeatedly with the hands or knuckles, sometimes with a twisting or squeezing motion; -- performed for example on the body of a person as a form of massage.
• transitive verb a trough or tray in which dough is kneaded.
• intransitive verb To perform movements like kneading, with the paws; -- said of cats, which may knead{3} a master's body when stroked, presumably a sign of contentment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb transitive To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
• verb transitive, figuratively To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
• verb intransitive, of cats To make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb make uniform
• verb manually manipulate (someone's body), usually for medicinal or relaxation purposes