cuddle
/ˈkʌd.l̩/
cuddle noun: an intimate physical embrace, typically while lying (or sitting): a snuggle, an instance of lying together snugly, as one might with a partner (more intimate than a hug, and typically of longer duration).
Noun
cuddle (plural cuddles)
- An intimate physical embrace, typically while lying (or sitting): a snuggle, an instance of lying together snugly, as one might with a partner (more intimate than a hug, and typically of longer duration).
- I'm so impatient / I can't stand the wait / When will I get my cuddle?1995, “I Miss You”, in Post, performed by Björk
- An affectionate embrace, a hug, such as is given to family members and close friends (less intimate than a snuggle, and typically of shorter duration).
- Give me a cuddle, Paul; it'll cheer you up.
Verb
cuddle (third-person singular simple present cuddles, present participle cuddling, simple past and past participle cuddled)
- To lie together snugly (with someone), in an intimate physical embrace; to snuggle.
- The young lovers cuddled on the couch.
- To embrace (someone) affectionately; to hug (someone) closely.
- To cradle (e.g. a baby) in one's arms so as to give comfort, warmth.
- She cuddled the infant before bedtime.
- I'm cold; can you roll over here and cuddle me, honey?
- To lie close or snug; to crouch; to nestle.
- She cuddles low behind the brake; / Nor would she stay, nor dares she fly.1717, Matthew Prior, The Dove
cuddle meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
cuddle in Tamil
- பாச அரவணைப்பு, பாசத்தால் இறுக்கிப் பிடி, அரவணை, அன்பாக வருடு, தடவு, இதமாகச் சுருண்டு படு
cuddle in Urdu
- گلے لگانا, لپٹنا, سینہ لگانا
cuddle in Bengali
- জড়িয়ে ধরা, আদর করা
cuddle in Malayalam
- ആശ്ശേഷിക്കുക, കെട്ടിപ്പിടിക്കുക, ഞെരുങ്ങിക്കിടക്കുക, കെട്ടിപ്പുണരുക
More languagesFewer languages
- cuddle in Kannada
- ಅಪ್ಪು, ಮುದ್ದಾಡು
- cuddle in Indonesian
- pelukan, berpelukan
- cuddle in Vietnamese
- ôm ấp
Examples of cuddle in a sentence
- It's homophobic that I'm not cuddling my girlfriend right now.
- Carla isn't dating John. She's just his cuddle buddy.
- There’s always one that needs a cuddle and there’s a lot to be said for fur therapy.
Forms of cuddle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | cuddles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | cuddles |
| present participle | cuddling |
| past participle | cuddled |
| past | cuddled |
Origin of cuddle
Origin uncertain, but probably from a frequentative form of Middle English *cudden, cuththen, keththen (“to embrace”), a variant of cuthen, kuthen, kithen (“to be familiar with, make known”), from Middle English cuth, couth (“known, familiar”), equivalent to couth + -le. Cognate with Middle Dutch kudden (“to come together, flock together”). More at couth.
Words formed from cuddle
Phrases with cuddle
Words that rhyme with cuddle
Questions about cuddle
- What does cuddle mean?
- Cuddle means an intimate physical embrace, typically while lying (or sitting): a snuggle, an instance of lying together snugly, as one might with a partner (more intimate than a hug, and typically of longer duration).
- What is cuddle in Tamil?
- Cuddle in Tamil is பாச அரவணைப்பு, பாசத்தால் இறுக்கிப் பிடி, அரவணை. See Cuddle meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is cuddle?
- Cuddle can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce cuddle?
- Cuddle is pronounced /ˈkʌd.l̩/.
- What is the plural of cuddle?
- The plural of cuddle is cuddles.
Words near cuddle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cuddle (page history and authors); cuddle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cuddle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cuddle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cuddle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cuddle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cuddle.wav.
Cite this entry: “cuddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cuddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.