# spooning

Pronunciation: say "SPOON-ing" US /ˈspunɪŋ/, UK /ˈspuːnɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The act of two people lying on their sides, nestled front-to-back, one person's front against the other's back.
   - Simple: When two people lie on their sides, one behind the other, fitting closely together.
   - _After their quarrel, spooning in bed felt like a quiet apology._
   - _She found real comfort in spooning with her partner through the long winter nights._
2. The act of lifting or transferring something by means of a spoon.
   - Simple: The act of lifting food or other small things using a spoon.
   - _The chef demonstrated proper spooning of the sauce over the grilled fish._
   - _Gentle spooning of the jam onto warm toast released its scent across the kitchen._

## Verb

3. Present participle of spoon. — present participle and gerund of spoon
   - Simple: Present participle of spoon. Use this form when the action is happening right now.
   - _He stood at the counter spooning soup into containers for the week._
   - _The exhausted couple lay spooning beneath a thick wool blanket._

## Origin

The sense meaning to nestle together in rest is a metaphor, comparing two people to the way spoons stack together compactly.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spooning (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).