Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A gentle touch or gesture of fondness, tenderness, or love.
- v. To touch or stroke in an affectionate or loving manner.
- v. To touch or move as if with a caress: soft music that caressed the ears.
- v. To treat fondly, kindly, or favorably; cherish.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. 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.
Wiktionary
- n. An act or expression of affection; Endearment.
- n. A gentle stroking or rubbing.
- v. transitive To touch or kiss lovingly; to fondle.
- v. transitive To show and act on deep closeness shared with another person.
- v. transitive To affect as if with a caress.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness.
- v. To treat with tokens of fondness, affection, or kindness; to touch or speak to in a loving or endearing manner; to fondle.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a gentle affectionate stroking (or something resembling it)
- v. touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner
Etymologies
- From French caresse, from Italian carezza ("dear"), from Latin cārus ("dear"), from Proto-Indo-European *kāro- (English whore), akin to Sanskrit काम (kāma, "love"). (Wiktionary)
- French caresse, from Italian carezza, from caro, dear, from Latin cārus; see kā- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“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
“A caress might be a grope if it comes from an unwanted hand.”
“Roused Death: Death rose and smiled, and met her vain caress. xxvi”
“In the one case, such a caress is a bit of heaven to a husband, in the other it is a bit of hell!”
“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.”
“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.”
“He unclasped her arms from his neck -- their caress was a torture to him.”
“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
“We have to kind of caress each person the right way.”
“Meanwhile, Maggie's stable companion cranes his beautiful neck over the side of the box, and begs for the caress which is not denied him.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘caress’.
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Russian Doll Words
A Russian Doll word is a word that, when you remove the first and last letters, is either the empty string, or a Russian Doll word. These are all of the 6 or more letter Russian Doll words found in...
waspiness, upraisers, strainers, sporangia, raspiness, prelatess, methanals, gaspiness, washings, uprisers, upraises, upraiser and 2373 more...
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((Eye)) CBS = I See B.S.
Input limited to 30 seconds, so we needed to find cost-effective ways to become a part of your life. Uninvited houseguest technology: the link technique, thoughts as real estate. The full potential...
joy, dodge, ram, monster, coke, snuggle, gateway, ivory, life, subway, crunch, crest and 151 more...
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Gentle Actions
embrace, nuzzle, fondle, caress, nestle, cherish, foster, cuddle, snuggle, brush, comfort, nuture and 1 more...
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Words of seduction
nibble, caress, writhing, whisper, penetrate, lick, flushed, passionate, embrace, nudity, intimacy, tempt and 17 more...
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Words We Dislike!
A list created for TRM, because there are certain words that we just kind of hate.
lover, fetus, smegma, saggy, coulomb, placenta, consumate, moist, sticky, bedroom suit, jiggles, blubber and 52 more...
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Words of Beauty
the images
iridescent, void, vacuum, rapture, chaos, melancholy, somnambulant, ethereal, somnolescent, caress, intimate, mellifluous and 13 more...
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no little thing
it bothers me when i hear someone who have experienced something life changing use the phrase: now i appreciate the little things. I DON'T BELIEVE THERE ARE ANY LITTLE THINGS. everything is EXTRAOR...
letters, living, understand, narrow, behavior, personal, need, meant, untamed, world, soldier, 'cause and 241 more...
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Pretty Words
Words that sound pretty.
ethereal, ephemeral, iridescent, shimmer, wisp, whisper, charisma, crescent, azure, mystery, fantasy, miracle and 142 more...
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Buttery
Words that make me feel cozy
Noodle, Nugget, Butter, Soft, Snug, Feather, Socks, Knit, Mug, Curl, Billow, Lounge and 315 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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megsarah's Words
lygophilia, rhapsodomancy, lynch, ebb, throb, hollow, somniloquy, incense, caress, sashay, ephemeral, quiver and 98 more...
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africasunsets's list
serendipity, fragrance, glamour, smitten, nourish, lavish, luxury, wicked, gem, daring, soothe, fantasy and 192 more...
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cloudjuice's Words
schadenfreude, sordid, promulgate, erratic, erroneous, amalgamate, sesquipedalian, incongruous, psychosis, etymology, simulacrum, serendipity and 988 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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favorite words
ennui, bonhomie, eschew, liaison, serendipity, lovely, dusk, kitten, epitome, sexy, beloved, darling and 396 more...
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dirtysnowflake's Words
snowflake, parisian, couture, mystery, ruby, clandestine, corset, october, list, touch, caress, aboulia and 156 more...
Tweets
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