massage
/ˈmæsɑː(d)ʒ/US/məˈsɑ(d)ʒ/
massage noun: the action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve aches.
Noun
massage (countable and uncountable, plural massages)
- The action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve aches.
- Having a massage can have many beneficial effects.
- During the long lapses in work common with on-location productions, Marilyn would silently meditate as Roberts provided a shoulder massage.2014, Gary Vitacco-Robles, Icon: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe Volume 2 1956-1962 AND Beyond
- The action of rubbing or kneading anything.
- The baker gave the dough one final massage.
Verb
massage (third-person singular simple present massages, present participle massaging, simple past and past participle massaged)
- To rub and knead (someone's body or body part), to perform a massage on (somebody).
- My neck doesn't hurt as much as it did last night since my wife massaged me after I got back from the concert.
- So after massaging a nude woman while being nude or nearly nude myself, sex is a natural way to end things.2010 January 11, Julian Kaye, Massage Therapy
- To rub or knead anything.
- Massage the kale to soften it before making the salad.
- To manipulate (data, a document etc.) to make it more presentable or more convenient to work with.
- News relating to public disturbances was systematically massaged [...].2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 118
- The Conservatives have massaged expectations down by saying they would be delighted with a majority of 1,000 […]2008 May 22, Patrick Wintour, Steven Morris, The Guardian, page 3
- To falsify (data or accounts).
massage meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
massage in Hindi
- rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a body
- मालिश māliś, अंगमर्दन aṅgmardan, मसाज masāj
massage in Tamil
- உடற்பிடிப்பு, உடல் பிடித்தழுத்தித் தேய்த்தல், ஒத்தடம், உருவுதல், உரோஞ்சல், தசைத் தேய்ப்பு
massage in Urdu
- rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a body
- مالِش māliś, مَساج masāj
massage in Bengali
- rubbing, kneading, or hitting muscled part of a body
- ম্যাসেজ mêśej
More languagesFewer languages
- massage in Telugu
- మర్దనము mardanamu, మర్దించు mardiñcu
- massage in Malayalam
- തടവുക taṭavuka, തിരുമ്മുക tirummuka
- massage in Kannada
- ಅಂಗಮರ್ದನ aṅgamardana
- massage in Punjabi
- ਕੁੱਟਣਾ kuṭṭăṇā, کٹنا kuṭṭṇā
- massage in Gujarati
- ઘસવું ghasvũ
- massage in Odia
- ଚାପିବା cāpibā, ସାରିବା sāribā
- massage in Sanskrit
- अङ्गमर्दन aṅgamardana
- massage in Assamese
- পিটিক pitik
- massage in Pashto
- مساژ masāž, مالش māleš, چاپي, مساج masāj
- massage in Arabic
- تَدْلِيك tadlīk, تَمْسِيد tamsīd, مَسَاج masāj, دَلَّكَ dallaka
- massage in Malay
- urut
- massage in Indonesian
- pijat, urut
- massage in Thai
- การนวด gaan-nûuat, นวด nûuat
- massage in Vietnamese
- sự xoa bóp, sự đấm bóp, xoa bóp, tẩm quất
- massage in Myanmar
- အနှိပ် a.hnip
Examples of massage in a sentence
- Many mothers find the use of perineal massage eases their childbirth.
- I regularly visit the spa for a massage and a facial cleanse.
- The snake milker massages the glands to extract the full measure of venom during each milking.
Synonyms of massage
Forms of massage
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | massages |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | massages |
| present participle | massaging |
| past participle | massaged |
| past | massaged |
Origin of massage
From French massage (noun), from masser (“to massage”) (borrowed around the end of the 18th century from Arabic مَسَّ (massa, “feel, touch”), or from Portuguese amassar) + -age. Cognate to German massieren.
Words formed from massage
- African massage
- automassage
- baby massage
- blind massage
- body-to-body massage
- electromassage
- heart massage
- hydromassage
- infant massage
- lingam massage
- massageable
- massage chair
- massage gun
- massagelike
- massage parlour
- massage parlor
- massager
- massage table
- massage therapist
- massage therapy
- massagist
- massotherapy
- nonmassage
- otomassage
- pneumomassage
- prostate massage
- self-massage
- sexy massage
- stone massage
- Swedish massage
- vibromassage
- yoni massage
- remassage
- massage someone's ego
- massagingly
- nonmassaged
- unmassaged
Phrases with massage
Questions about massage
- What does massage mean?
- Massage means the action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve aches.
- What is massage in Hindi?
- Massage in Hindi is मालिश (māliś), अंगमर्दन (aṅgmardan), मसाज (masāj). See Massage meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is massage?
- Massage can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce massage?
- Massage is pronounced /ˈmæsɑː(d)ʒ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of massage?
- The plural of massage is massages.
Words near massage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: massage (page history and authors); massage (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); തടവുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); کٹنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઘસવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଚାପିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); अङ्गमर्दन (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); পিটিক (Assamese) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-massage.wav.
Cite this entry: “massage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/massage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.