Massage

//ˈmæsɑː(d)ʒ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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. countable, uncountable

    "Having a massage can have many beneficial effects."

  2. 2
    kneading and rubbing parts of the body to increase circulation and promote relaxation wordnet
  3. 3
    The action of rubbing or kneading anything. countable, uncountable

    "The baker gave the dough one final massage."

Verb
  1. 1
    To rub and knead (someone's body or a part of a body), to perform a massage on (somebody). transitive

    "My neck doesn't hurt as much as it did last night since my wife massaged me after I got back from the concert."

  2. 2
    give a massage to wordnet
  3. 3
    To rub or knead anything. transitive

    "Massage the kale to soften it before making the salad."

  4. 4
    manually manipulate (someone's body), usually for medicinal or relaxation purposes wordnet
  5. 5
    To manipulate (data, a document etc.) to make it more presentable or more convenient to work with. transitive

    "News relating to public disturbances was systematically massaged [...]."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To falsify (data or accounts). transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

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