the.com/cuddle
a full-body negotiation where the loser of the arm-placement war wins everything.
means To hold someone close in a warm, affectionate embrace, usually while lying or sitting together.
from A word of murky northern roots, first surfacing in English around the 1500s. Its likeliest relatives are dialect words like 'cull' and 'coll,' meaning to embrace, and it may be a cousin of 'coddle,' to treat tenderly. The truth is nobody can pin its exact parentage — it seems to have crept into the language the way a cuddle creeps across a bed: softly, gradually, and without anyone agreeing on who started it.
- chemical payoff
- Triggers oxytocin, the brain's anti-stress hormone.
- pain relief
- Affectionate touch can dull physical pain measurably.
- professional version
- Paid cuddle therapists exist and book out fast.
- survival roots
- Premature babies gain weight faster from skin contact.
- sleep sabotage
- Couples sleep worse together but choose it anyway.
world cuddle championship — annual event in austria where couples compete to hold each other the longest, held since 2009
cuddle puddle — common practice at burning man festival where groups of people lie together in intimate platonic contact