v. [frequentative of FOND v. Cf. DANDLE, FADDLE.]
† 1. trans. To treat with fond indulgence; to cocker, pamper. Also, to bring to (a state or condition) by indulgence. Also with up. Obs.
1694. Dryden, Love Triumphant, II. i.
| Vera. Ximena, you have fondled him to this; | |
| I Prophesied; and now ’tis come to pass. |
1721. Amhurst, Terræ-Filius, No. 8, ¶ 11. Where one would stand it out till it came to this, twenty chose rather to be fondled up, and call’d mother’s nown boys at any expence; martyrdom not being now in half the vogue that it hath formerly been.
1732. Bolingbroke, in Swift’s Lett. (1766), II. 157. Come and see her; you shall be nursed, fondled, and humoured.
1757. Johnson, Rambler, No. 175, 19 Nov., ¶ 5. Every day sends out, in quest of pleasure and distinction, some heir fondled in ignorance, and flattered into pride.
1789. Mad. D’Arblay, Lett., April. I knew you would rear them, and cheer them, and fondle them [a cock and a hen] like your children.
2. To handle or treat with fondness; to caress. Also, to press fondly to (the heart).
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St. Pierre’s Studies of Nature (1799), II. 52. Man, while yet a youth, sees the dog, his companion and contemporary, die of old age; and also the sheep, which he fondled when a lamb.
1832. W. Irving, Alhambra, II. 36. The prince fondled it to his heart. ‘Happy bird,’ said he, ‘who can fly, as it were, with the wings of the morning to the uttermost parts of the earth.’
1859. Kingsley, Misc. (1860), I. 282–3. To fondle the reptile is to be bitten by it.
1874. Green, Short Hist., vii. § 3 (1876), 363. She [Elizabeth] patted handsome young squires on the neck when they knelt to kiss her hand, and fondled her ‘sweet Robin,’ Lord Leicester, in the face of the court.
fig. 1818. Keats, Endym., I. 311.
| Of Zephyr slew him,—Zephyr penitent, | |
| Who now, ere Phoebus mounts the firmament, | |
| Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain. |
3. intr. To behave, play or speak fondly; to toy; also † to bestow caresses on.
1720. Gay, Work for a Cooper, 77.
| Each time enjoin’d her penance mild, | |
| And fondled on her like his child. |
1727. Pope, etc., Of the Art of Sinking in Poetry, 102. Hear how he fondles like a mere stammerer.
1773. Goldsm., She Stoops to Conquer, IV. (Globe), 667/2. Fondling together, as I’m alive.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, i. ‘Foolish Nell!’ said the old man fondling with her hair.
1880. G. Meredith, Trag. Com., 74. Unable to take such services without rewarding him, she fondled: it pained her to see him suffer.
fig. 1836. Landor, Pericles & Aspasia, liii.
| For sighs full often fondle with reproofs | |
| And will be fondled by them. |
1874. Lowell, Agassiz, II. lvii.
| Persuasion fondled in his look and tone; | |
| Our speech (with strangers prudish) he could bring | |
| To find new charms in accents not her own. |
Hence Fondled ppl. a. Also Fondle sb., an act of fondling. Fondler, one who fondles.
1755. Johnson, Fondler.
1788. Clara Reeve, Exiles, III. 169–70. He was one of those fondled and spoiled children, who are disagreeable to all others, and are not happy in themselves.
1833. Lamb, Elia (1860), 419. It grew up without the lullaby of nurses, it was a stranger to the patient fondle, the hushing caress, the attracting novelty, the costlier plaything, or the cheaper off-hand contrivance to divert the child.
1876. Miss Yonge, Womankind, xviii. 135. Whether the elder brother starts as the tryant and tormentor, or the champion and fondler.
