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foreplay

[ fawr-pley, fohr- ]
/ ˈfɔrˌpleɪ, ˈfoʊr- /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR foreplay ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

sexual stimulation of one's partner, usually as a prelude to sexual intercourse.

RELATED WORDS

kissing, sex, necking, caress, lovemaking, action, petting

Nearby words

  1. forepart,
  2. forepassed,
  3. forepaw,
  4. forepeak,
  5. foreperson,
  6. forepleasure,
  7. forepole,
  8. forequarter,
  9. forequarters,
  10. forereach

Origin of foreplay

First recorded in 1925–30; fore- + play
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for foreplay

British Dictionary definitions for foreplay

foreplay

/ (ˈfɔːˌpleɪ) /

noun

mutual sexual stimulation preceding sexual intercourse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foreplay

foreplay

n.

in sexual sense, by 1911, from fore- + play (n.). Earlier as a theatrical term (by 1857).

In fact the poem which Mr. Brooks has translated is but the "prologue to the swelling theme," the fore-play to the actual drama of Faust. ["The Christian Examiner and Religious Miscellany," Jan.-May 1857]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Medicine definitions for foreplay

foreplay

[ fôr′plā′ ]

n.

The sexual stimulation that precedes intercourse.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.