kissing cousins

Noun

kissing cousin (plural kissing cousins)

1. A relatively distant relative, or a friend, who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.

   Synonyms:

   kissing kin

2. (figuratively) A thing which is related or similar to another thing.
   • [A]fter the initial public brouhaha, wildlife administrators will suddenly decide that the classification of the Aleutian Canada goose as an endangered species was a gross mistake all along. Either the bird will be downgraded to "threatened" status—which means it can be hunted—or it will be...1981 September, George Reiger, “Conservation: What’s in a Name?”, in Field & Stream, volume LXXXVI, number 5, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 107, column 1

   Synonyms:

   cousin, cousin-german, kissing kin