bill and coo en · VERB
Meanings
- (of birds such as pigeons and doves) To coo and rub beaks as a prelude to mating.
-
(of romantic couples) To exchange loving and affectionate behaviour, such as caresses and kisses.
"It's not as if you two were young people, and wanted to be billing and cooing," Lady Ball had said to her the same evening. Miss Mackenzie, as she thought of this, was not so sure that Lady Ball was right. Why would she not want billing and cooing as well as another?
1875, Anthony Trollope, Miss Mackenzie, Norilana Books, page 122:Take a sweet girl just like you / How nice if only we could bill and coo
1973, Bryan Ferry, “Pyjamarama”, performed by Roxy Music:To be brave, handsome, twenty-two; / With nothing else on earth to do, / But all day long to bill and coo; / It were a pleasant calling.
1869, William Thackeray, “Piscator and Piscatrix”, in Ballads, published 1881, page 88:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bills and coos | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| billed and cooed | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| billed and cooed | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| billing and cooing | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Relateds
Translations (13)
sv vänslas (Translations) · sk hrkútať (Translations) · de miteinander turteln (Translations) · hu nyalják-falják egymást (Translations) · pl gruchać (Translations) · de turteln (Translations) · de schnäbeln (Translations) · es hacer arrumacos (Translations) · hu csókolózik (Translations) · it tortoreggiare (Translations) · vi hú hí (Translations) · hu turbékol (Translations) · hu enyeleg (Translations)