canoodling

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of canoodle

plural canoodlings

1. Amorous pettings or caresses.

   Admittedly one is spared the nauseating canoodlings of lovers whose lungs are manifestly greater than their love, which are so common in Wagner evenings[…]

   1956, George Henry Hubert Lascelles Harewood (Earl of), Opera, volume 7, page 15

   1 more example

   Sure enough, with dark wood walls, thatched overhangs and a formidable totem at the front desk, the Tonga Room has also been the site of more than a few clandestine canoodlings, some of which were immortalized by Herb Caen, the famed San Francisco Chronicle columnist, who trumpeted the room’s happy hour and its famously strong mai tai.

   2009 April 5, Jesse Mckinley, “Order a Mai Tai and Save Paradise”, in New York Times