| Learning / English Dictionary |
KISSING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)
Synonyms:
caressing; cuddling; fondling; hugging; kissing; necking; petting; smooching; snuggling
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("kissing" is a kind of...):
arousal; foreplay; stimulation (mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "kissing"):
snogging ((British informal) cuddle and kiss)
Derivation:
kiss (touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb kiss
Context examples:
Why do not I see my little Fanny? —and on perceiving her, came forward with a kindness which astonished and penetrated her, calling her his dear Fanny, kissing her affectionately, and observing with decided pleasure how much she was grown!
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
With those words, he retired, kissing his great hand, and leering at us like a mask.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Besides, it was all so confused; it seemed only a moment from his coming into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was kissing me.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A hearty kissing I got for a welcome, and some boastful triumph, which I swallowed as well as I could.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He reread the letter adoringly, dwelling over her handwriting, loving each stroke of her pen, and in the end kissing her signature.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
She brought it bits of bouquets, she read to it, took it out to breathe fresh air, hidden under her coat, she sang it lullabies and never went to bed without kissing its dirty face and whispering tenderly, I hope you'll have a good night, my poor dear.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A stare or two at Fanny, as William helped her out of the carriage, was all the voluntary notice which this brother bestowed; but he made no objection to her kissing him, though still entirely engaged in detailing farther particulars of the Thrush's going out of harbour, in which he had a strong right of interest, being to commence his career of seamanship in her at this very time.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
And I'll—I'll— Peggotty fell to kissing the keyhole, as she couldn't kiss me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me; with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
In another second I was embracing and kissing her rapturously: "Bessie! Bessie! Bessie!" that was all I said; whereat she half laughed, half cried, and we both went into the parlour.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
