osculate

/ˌɑskjəˈleɪt/

Other forms: osculating; osculated

To osculate is to kiss or touch with your lips. If you osculate your dog on the mouth, some of your family members will laugh while others will be disgusted.

The kind of kiss you give when you osculate is by definition either a goofy one or an almost exaggeratedly formal one, like a dapper gentleman who kisses a lady's hand. There is also a mathematical definition of osculate, which is almost like a math kiss: when two surfaces or two curves touch in at least three points. The Latin root word is osculum, kiss, or literally little mouth.

Definitions of osculate

1. verb

   touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
   synonyms: buss, kiss, snog

   types:

   peck, smack

   kiss lightly

   type of:

   touch

   make physical contact with, come in contact with
2. verb

   have at least three points in common with
   “one curve osculates the other”

   “these two surfaces osculate”

   type of:

   share

   have in common
3. verb

   be intermediate between two taxonomic groups
   “These species osculate”

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)