frottage

American  

[fraw-tahzh] / frɔˈtɑʒ /

noun

1. a technique in the visual arts of obtaining textural effects or images by rubbing lead, chalk, charcoal, etc., over paper laid on a granular or relieflike surface.

2. a work of art containing shapes and textures produced by frottage.

3. the practice of getting sexual stimulation and satisfaction by rubbing against something, especially another person.

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frottage British  

/ ˈfrɒtɑːʒ, frɔtaʒ /

noun

1. the act or process of taking a rubbing from a rough surface, such as wood, for a work of art

2. sexual excitement obtained by rubbing against another person's clothed body

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Etymology

Origin of frottage

1930–35; < French, equivalent to frott ( er ) to rub (of uncertain origin) + -age -age

Example Sentences

As the show proceeds, you’ll encounter fingertip drawings of plants collaged with the frottage rubbings of single leaves, and a sculpture and a large wall piece using the fired, fist-squeezed clay.

From New York Times

The results are eerie and surprisingly crisp, like frottage.

From New York Times

Do random women approach men, start smelling them, stroking their cheeks, rubbing their shoulders or the bizarre forehead-to-forehead frottage?

From The Guardian

In this mournful frottage, the hand is dead; long live the hand.

From Los Angeles Times

Dr. Lovatt said she was particularly struck by the artist’s monumental, labor-intensive scrolls, a series begun in 1970, when Ms. Stuart reinvented Surrealist frottage by working with, and against, the earth.

From New York Times