fondling
English
Etymology 1
From fond + -ling.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɒndlɪŋ/
Audio (UK) (file)
Noun
fondling (plural fondlings)
- (obsolete) A foolish person.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
- Yet were her words and lookes but false and fayned, / To some hid end to make more easie way, / Or to allure such fondlings whom she trayned / Into her trap […].
- 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter 10, in Wuthering Heights, volume I:
- 'How can you say I am harsh, you naughty fondling?' cried the mistress, amazed at the unreasonable assertion.
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- A pet or person who is fondled; someone who is much loved.
Translations
a pet or person
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See also
- fondler
Etymology 2
From fondle + -ing.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɒnd(ə)lɪŋ/, [ˈfɒn.dɫ̩.ɪŋ]
Audio (UK) (file)
Verb
fondling
- present participle of fondle
Derived terms
- fondlingly
Noun
fondling (plural fondlings)
- The act of caressing; manifestation of tenderness.
- 1835, Emma Whitehead, Pierce Falcon, the Outcast
- amorous fondling
- 1835, Emma Whitehead, Pierce Falcon, the Outcast
References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967