kiss
♦ kiss /k'ɪs/ (kisses kissing kissed)
1 [V-RECIP] NON-RECIP: V n, V n n, RECIP: pl-n V, pl-n V n
If you kiss someone, you touch them with your lips to show affection or sexual desire, or to greet them or say goodbye.
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek...
Her parents kissed her goodbye as she set off from their home...
They kissed for almost half a minute...
We kissed goodbye.
[N-COUNT]
Kiss is also a noun.
I put my arms around her and gave her a kiss...
2 [VERB] V n
If you say that something kisses another thing, you mean that it touches that thing very gently.
The wheels of the aircraft kissed the runway.
3 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you blow someone a kiss or blow a kiss, you touch the palm of your hand lightly with your lips, and then blow across your hand towards the person, in order to show them your affection.
Maria blew him a kiss...
4 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that you kiss something goodbye or kiss goodbye to something, you accept the fact that you are going to lose it, although you do not want to. (INFORMAL)
I felt sure I'd have to kiss my dancing career goodbye.kiss of death
[N-SING] usu the N, oft N for/to n
If you say that a particular event is the kiss of death for something, you mean that it is certain to make them fail or be a disaster.
Trying to please an audience is the kiss of death for an artist.kiss of life
[N-SING] the N
If you give someone who has stopped breathing the kiss of life, you put your mouth onto their mouth and breathe into their lungs to make them start breathing again. (BRIT; in AM, use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation)
Julia was given the kiss of life but she could not be revived.kiss-and-tell
[ADJ] ADJ n
If someone who has had a love affair with a famous person tells the story of that affair in public, for example in a newspaper or book, you can refer to this as a kiss-and-tell story.
...intimate photographs and kiss-and-tell revelations.
1 [V-RECIP] NON-RECIP: V n, V n n, RECIP: pl-n V, pl-n V n
If you kiss someone, you touch them with your lips to show affection or sexual desire, or to greet them or say goodbye.
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek...
Her parents kissed her goodbye as she set off from their home...
They kissed for almost half a minute...
We kissed goodbye.
[N-COUNT]
Kiss is also a noun.
I put my arms around her and gave her a kiss...
2 [VERB] V n
If you say that something kisses another thing, you mean that it touches that thing very gently.
The wheels of the aircraft kissed the runway.
3 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you blow someone a kiss or blow a kiss, you touch the palm of your hand lightly with your lips, and then blow across your hand towards the person, in order to show them your affection.
Maria blew him a kiss...
4 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that you kiss something goodbye or kiss goodbye to something, you accept the fact that you are going to lose it, although you do not want to. (INFORMAL)
I felt sure I'd have to kiss my dancing career goodbye.kiss of death
[N-SING] usu the N, oft N for/to n
If you say that a particular event is the kiss of death for something, you mean that it is certain to make them fail or be a disaster.
Trying to please an audience is the kiss of death for an artist.kiss of life
[N-SING] the N
If you give someone who has stopped breathing the kiss of life, you put your mouth onto their mouth and breathe into their lungs to make them start breathing again. (BRIT; in AM, use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation)
Julia was given the kiss of life but she could not be revived.kiss-and-tell
[ADJ] ADJ n
If someone who has had a love affair with a famous person tells the story of that affair in public, for example in a newspaper or book, you can refer to this as a kiss-and-tell story.
...intimate photographs and kiss-and-tell revelations.