kiss

present singular third person kisses · participle present kissing · participle past kissed · past kissed · obsolete participle past kist · obsolete past kist

1. transitiveTo touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.

   I'll kiss thy foot. I'll swear myself thy subject.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   4 more examples

   He […] kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack, / That at the parting all the church echoed.

   c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   Yet didn't you ſee, yet didn't you ſee, What naughty tricks they put upon me: They broke my pitcher, And ſpilt the water, And huff'd my mother, And chid her daughter, And kiſs'd my ſiſter inſtead of me.

   1795, Gammer Gurton's Garland, or, The Nursery Parnassus, Stockton: R. Christopher, page 27

   But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.

   1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC

   I kissed a girl and I liked it / The taste of her cherry chapstick / I kissed a girl just to try it / I hope my boyfriend don't mind it

   2008 April 28, Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cathy Dennis, “I Kissed a Girl”, in One of the Boys, performed by Katy Perry

2. ambitransitiveTo (cause to) touch lightly or slightly; to come into contact.

   His ball kissed the black into the corner pocket.

   4 more examples

   The nearside of the car just kissed a parked truck as he took the corner at high speed.

   Like fire and powder, / Which as they kiss consume.

   c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi]

   Rose, rose and clematis, / Trail and twine and clasp and kiss, / Kiss, kiss; and make her a bower / All of flowers, and drop me a flower, / Drop me a flower.

   1867–1870 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “No. II. At the Window.”, in The Window: Or, The Songs of the Wrens […], London: Strahan & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC

   Night hath fled away into the valleys. The dawn kisseth the mountain tops.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

3. reciprocalOf two or more people, to touch each other's lips together, usually to express love or affection or passion.

   We're kissing in the moonlight / Love was shining so bright and true

   1990, Norell Oson Bard, “Kissing in the Moonlight”performed by The Boppers

4. archaictransitiveTo treat with fondness.

plural kisses

1. A touch with the lips, usually to express love or affection, or as a greeting.

   “It was the most absurd kiss. I don't believe he'd ever kissed a woman in his life before. I threw my head back, and it was a sort of slidy, pecking dab, just on the end of the chin — here.” Mrs. Hauksbee tapped her masculine little chin with her fan.

   1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 42

   Synonyms: buss

2. An 'X' mark placed at the end of a letter or other type of message, signifying the bestowal of a kiss from the sender to the receiver.

   With some satisfaction, Gergory read this through twice, signed it and added kisses[.]

   1966, Brian W. Aldiss, The Saliva Tree, published 1968, page 67

3. A type of filled chocolate candy, shaped as if someone had kissed the top. See Hershey's Kisses.
4. astronomyThe alignment of two bodies in the solar system such that they have the same longitude when seen from Earth; conjunction.
5. aeronauticsA low-speed mid-air collision between the envelopes of two hot air balloons, generally causing no damage or injury.

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of keep it simple, stupid.

   KISS when you're writing.

1. A surname from Hungarian.