caressing
Americanadjective
-
gently touching, patting, or stroking a person or thing to show affection.
She stroked my face—temple, cheek, chin, and then up the other side in a caressing, sweeping gesture.
-
touching or seeming to touch a person or thing lightly and in a way that calms or soothes.
Over and over again, I repeated the figures until they became a caressing swash of sound inside my head and hummed me finally to sleep.
Other Word Forms
- caressingly adverb
- uncaressing adjective
- uncaressingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of caressing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The video, which was partly recorded inside the prison, shows him caressing a fighting cockerel and freely chatting to fellow inmates.
From BBC
His opener - the competition's fastest goal so far - had the hallmarks of a player who had regained his confidence, taking a touch and caressing a fine finish into the far corner.
From BBC
I no longer notice the flashes of lime green tape caressing door frames, encircling bathroom floors and smothering naked outlets.
From Los Angeles Times
With the cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, he shows them off beautifully, caressing them in light so that they look lit from within.
From New York Times
"My hands burn in this heat," she tells me, gently caressing her fingertips.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
