petting

Verb

pet (third-person singular simple present pets, present participle petting, simple past pet or (childish) petted, past participle petted or pet)

1. (transitive) To stroke or fondle (an animal).
   • I really love to pet cute puppies.

   Synonyms:

   pat, smooth

2. (informal, intransitive, transitive) To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.
   • We started petting each other the moment we were alone.
3. (dated, transitive) To keep or treat (an animal) as a pet.
   • Deer are often tamed and petted, and their flesh is so much esteemed by all Malays, that it is very natural they should endeavour to introduce them into the remote islands in which they settled, and whose luxuriant forests seem so well adapted for their subsistence.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 140
4. (dated, transitive) To treat (someone) as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.
   • His daughter was petted and spoiled.
5. (archaic, intransitive) To be a pet.
6. (archaic, intransitive) To be peevish; to sulk.
   • He sure is queasie stomach't that must pet, and puke, at such a trivial circumstance1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political

   Synonyms:

   mope, pout

See all 16 meanings of pet