From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcaressca‧ress1 /kəˈres/ verb [transitive] 1 TOUCH especially literary to touch someone gently in a way that shows you love them SYN stroke His hands gently caressed her body.► see thesaurus at touch2 TOUCH literary to touch something gently, in a way that seems pleasant or romantic Waves caressed the shore.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
caress• Looming over the Everqueen it reached out to caress her cheek with its claw.• He began caressing her with a surprising gentleness.• She wanted so much to hold, touch, and caress her.• Barbara held the tiny baby close and caressed his cheek.• She was caressing his face when the phone rang, making them both jump a little.• Stan lovingly caressed my cheek.• The sunlight caressed the crimson and white chrysanthemums in the abandoned courtyard.• Cameras caress them from every angle.• Their hands - podgy, thin, freckled or pale - touched everything, prodding, caressing, tickling, squeezing.caresscaress2 noun [countable] especially literary TOUCHa gentle touch or kiss that shows you love someoneExamples from the Corpus
caress• So light a caress to do so much!• He observed naughtily, subtly, wittily, passively, on occasion with a feline caress.• Suddenly it was no longer enough to accept his caresses without responding.• There was no inhuman obscene caress, no acid caking on her flesh.• Her body was a new one under his sensual caresses, reborn for this man who held her heart.• Yet the caress of his meaning was delicate as the first green fronds of spring.• Skye stood by the hotel bus, basking in the unfamiliar caress.Origin caress2 (1600-1700) French caresse, from Italian carezza, from caro “dear”, from Latin carus; → CHARITY 