Literary notes about caressing (AI summary)
The word caressing in literature conveys a sense of tenderness and intimacy, whether describing a gentle touch or a soothing atmosphere. It is frequently employed to depict delicate physical contact—a caring hand stroke that comforts or consoles ([1], [2], [3])—as well as a manner of treating someone or something with affectionate attention ([4], [5]). Beyond literal contact, caressing also evokes images of soft breezes and sunlight that seem to stroke the contours of nature ([6], [7], [8]), and even suggests a conversational tone imbued with warmth and subtle persuasion ([9], [10]). This rich versatility makes "caressing" a powerful descriptive tool for expressing both physical and emotional grace throughout literature.
- Nor did he lack the caressing strokes of her gentle hand, to convince him that, though motherless , he was not friendless .
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - For reply, her mother’s arm went around her, and a hand was softly caressing her hair.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - ‘And my dear boy,’ cried my mother, coming to the elbow-chair in which I was, and caressing me, ‘my own little Davy!
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - In a citizen of rank and noble birth, caressing manners, display, and ambition are marks of levity.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero - In social intercourse I observe that a man’s politeness is usually more helpful and a woman’s more caressing.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The air was mild and caressing, but cool with the breath of spring and the night.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin - One walks in the sunlight, through the caressing breeze, at the foot of the mountains, along the coast of the sea.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - What an excruciatingly wintry awakening from the caressing warmth of my blankets!
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore - "I suppose not, my dearest," said Lady Caroline, vaguely, but in the caressing tone to which Margaret was accustomed.
— from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant - Dorothea spoke in a full cordial tone, half caressing, half explanatory.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot
