fondling

English

Etymology 1

From fond +‎ -ling.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɒndlɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

fondling (plural fondlings)

1. (obsolete) A foolish person.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     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.

2. A pet or person who is fondled; someone who is much loved.

Translations

a pet or person

• Bulgarian: любимец (bg) m (ljubimec), галеник (bg) m (galenik)
• Irish: dalta m
• Russian: люби́мец (ru) m (ljubímec), люби́мица (ru) f (ljubímica)

See also

• fondler

Etymology 2

From fondle +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɒnd(ə)lɪŋ/, [ˈfɒn.dɫ̩.ɪŋ]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Verb

fondling

1. present participle and gerund of fondle

Derived terms

• fondlingly

Noun

fondling (plural fondlings)

1. The act of caressing; manifestation of tenderness.
   • 1835, Emma Whitehead, Pierce Falcon, the Outcast:

     amorous fondling

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967