From French caresse, from Italian carezza (“dear”), from Latin cārus (“dear”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂-, akin to Sanskrit काम (kāma, “love”). Doublet of karezza.

• IPA^(key): /kəˈɹɛs/

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• Rhymes: -ɛs

caress (plural caresses)

1. An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [from 1640s]
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     He exerted himself to win by indulgence and caresses the hearts of all who were under his command.

   • 1855 November 10, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Four Winds”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 26:

     And he wooed her with his soft caresses, / Wooed her with his smile of sunshine, […]

2. A gentle stroking or rubbing.

caress (third-person singular simple present caresses, present participle caressing, simple past and past participle caressed)

1. (transitive) To touch or kiss lovingly; to fondle.

   Synonyms: hold, soothe, stroke, kiss; see also Thesaurus:fondle, Thesaurus:kiss

   She loves being caressed by her boyfriend.

2. (transitive) To affect as if with a caress.
   • 2012, Mel Berry, Graceful Intentions, page 1:

     The love and anguish in his voice caressed my mind and soul.

• Crases, SERCAs, carses, casers, crases, sacres, scares, seracs, séracs