massage

/'mæsɑ:ʤ/

Thân thiện

She gives her friend a relaxing shoulder massage.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • The act of kneading, rubbing, or pressing parts of a person's body with the hands, typically to relieve tension, reduce pain, or promote relaxation and circulation.

2. Verb:

   • To perform a massage on someone's body by kneading, rubbing, or pressing with the hands.
   • To manipulate or handle information, data, or a situation in a way that presents it in a more favorable or acceptable light.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • I booked a deep tissue massage for my sore shoulders.
  • A relaxing massage can help reduce stress.

• Verb (Literal):

  • The therapist will massage your neck and back.
  • He massaged the ointment into the strained muscle.

• Verb (Figurative):

  • The report massages the data to support its conclusion.
  • Politicians often massage the truth to avoid controversy.

Advanced Usage

• "to massage someone's ego": To flatter or praise someone excessively to make them feel more confident or important.

  • He's always massaging the boss's ego before asking for a raise.

• "to massage the figures/statistics": To manipulate numerical data to present a desired result.

  • The accountant was accused of massaging the figures to hide the losses.

Variants and Related Words

• Massager (n): A person who gives massages or a device used for massaging.

  • She is a licensed massager.
  • I bought an electric back massager.

• Massage Therapy (n): The professional practice of using massage for therapeutic purposes.

  • He is studying massage therapy.

Synonyms

• Noun: Rubdown, kneading, manipulation.
• Verb (Literal): Knead, rub, manipulate.
• Verb (Figurative): Manipulate, doctor, fudge, distort.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases

(Note: "Massage" does not commonly form phrasal verbs. Its extended meanings are typically used with direct objects or in set phrases like those in the "Advanced Usage" section.)

Related Idioms

• A shoulder massage: Often used literally, but can figuratively imply comfort or sympathy.
  • After the difficult meeting, she felt like she needed a shoulder massage and a strong coffee.

Học thuật

Noun

1. kneading and rubbing parts of the body to increase circulation and promote relaxation

Verb

1. give a massage to
   • She massaged his sore back
2. manually manipulate (someone's body), usually for medicinal or relaxation purposes
   • She rubbed down her child with a sponge

Từ đồng nghĩa

• rub down
• knead