to pleasure oneself
1
9.8
- phrasal verb
- Offensive
:
masturbarse
- Learning how to pleasure oneself can help individuals understand their own desires better.
Examples
-
You couldn't just pleasure yourself with novels.
Academic text (2009) -
In private, she sometimes chooses to pleasure oneself rather than seeking intimacy with a partner.
-
It's like a, if one wants to pleasure oneself while driving.
-
So from time to time, I like to pleasure myself with a vibrator.
-
If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself.
-
Amanda smiled and said perhaps they could borrow a man for a night or two, seeing as I had enough to pleasure myself, and then some.
Fiction book (1991) -
I pleasure myself constantly with it, and sex with my wife is like eating breakfast—a chore.
Blog text (19) -
Many people find it natural to pleasure oneself as a way to explore their own bodies.
Synonyms
98
7.7
Touch your own private parts for sexual pleasure
14
9.8
To touch your own private parts for sexual pleasure
11
4.6
To please someone or make them feel happy
3
9.1
To touch your own private parts to feel sexual pleasure
Antonyms
How Sexual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally means 'to give pleasure to oneself', so a learner who knows 'pleasure' and the reflexive 'oneself' can infer a general sense of self-gratification. However, the specific sexual/masturbatory sense and the less common verb usage of 'pleasure' are not fully predictable for a B1 learner and could be read non-sexually (e.g., 'to enjoy oneself'), so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Pleasure oneself is a polite way to talk about giving pleasure to your own body. The image of pleasure and oneself together makes clear why it is used as a gentle term for 'masturbate'.