reach-around

See also: reacharound

English

Alternative forms

• reacharound

Etymology

Deverbal from reach around.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

reach-around (plural reach-arounds)

1. Manual stimulation of a sexual partner's genitals during anal or vaginal intercourse from behind.
   • 1987, Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, Gustav Hasford, Full Metal Jacket (motion picture), spoken by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Ronald Lee Ermey):

     I bet you're the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 153:

     Tom adored to give pleasure while Gore has always liked to boast that he has never knowingly or intentionally gratified any of his partners. Not even a sighing reach-around by the sound of it.

   • 2015, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Sex Education”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 24, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

     Congress recently increased federal funding for abstinence-only education from abo-from about 50 to 75 million dollars per year, and at least part of that money gets matched by the states, which means that students are still being exposed to abstinence-centered programs, (uh) but with names like WAIT (uh) which stands for “Why Am I Tempted?,” (uh) GO APE (uh) or “Abstinence Protects Everyone,” and No Screwin’ Around (uh) which I presume stands for (uh) “No One Should Copulate Regularly Except Wedded Individuals. (uh) Now, A Reach-around Occasionally Ultimately Not Disastrous.”

2. (idiomatic) An ostensibly thoughtful gesture, especially one performed to win favour or mitigate unfair treatment.
3. (basketball) A passing style in which the ballhandler performs a crossover step in the direction of the intended pass and then extends his or her arms to throw the pass around the defender.