2
general::
touch somebody gently or lovingly
stroke
to move your hand gently over something, especially in a loving way:
• She stroked the child’s hair. • Our cat won’t let people stroke him.
pat
to touch an animal or child lightly several times, with your hand flat:
• He knelt down to pat the dog. • She patted the little boy’s head.
pet
to touch and move your hand gently over someone, especially an animal or child:
• The goats, pigs, sheep, and cows here allow you to pet them.
caress
to gently touch a part of someone’s body in a loving way:
• a mother caressing her child • She caressed his cheek.
fondle
to touch a part of someone’s body in a loving or sexual way – use this especially about touching someone in a sexual way that is not wanted:
• He tried to fondle her and she immediately pulled away from him.
Longman-Thesaurus
4
general::
verb ADV. gently, lightly, softly, tenderly | thoughtfully He stroked his beard thoughtfully. | absently She stroked the cat absently. | away She gently stroked away his tears., noun of a brush, pen, etc. ADJ. long, short | broad, thick | narrow, thin | bold, vigorous She caught his likeness with a few bold brush strokes. | even | quick, slow | downward, upward | brush, pen, pencil PHRASES with a stroke of the pen With a stroke of the pen our names were removed from the register. in sport ADJ. fast, slow | powerful The Romanian rowers pulled ahead with fast, powerful strokes. | backhand, forehand (in tennis, etc.) VERB + STROKE play He played some powerful backhand strokes throughout the game. PREP. by a, two, etc. ~ (in golf) Woods leads by two strokes. PHRASES a/two, etc. strokes ahead/behind (in golf) in swimming ADJ. long, short He swam back with long slow strokes. | fast, slow | back (also backstroke), breast (also breaststroke) VERB + STROKE do, swim You can't swim more than four strokes before you reach the other side. sudden illness of the brain ADJ. crippling, massive, serious | minor, slight | fatal VERB + STROKE have, suffer She had a massive stroke and lost her speech. STROKE + VERB leave sb … The stroke left him paralysed down his right side. STROKE + NOUN patient, victimILLNESS sth that happens unexpectedly ADJ. sudden I had a sudden stroke of inspiration. VERB + STROKE have PREP. at a/one ~ They lost half their fortune at a stroke. | ~ of a stroke of genius PHRASES a stroke of (good/bad) luck, a stroke of (good) fortuneNOTEswimming strokesa fast, powerful, strong crawla slow breaststrokedo, swim (the) ~ a swimmer doing the crawl I can't swim butterfly.strike out in/with breaststroke/crawl She struck out with a strong crawl towards the shore.a length of ~ He did 15 lengths of backstroke every morning.In competitions the categories are backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly,and freestyle (= in which competitors do crawl because it is fastest).100 metres, 200 metres, etc. ~men's, women's ~compete in ~ competing in the women's 100 metres freestylein the ~ He came first in the 200 metres backstroke.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary