to practice bundling

9.9

To sleep fully clothed in the same bed with someone you plan to marry as an old custom

phrasal verb

Archaic

: practicar el bundling

In colonial America, some couples would practice bundling as part of their courtship ritual.

Examples

She was surprised to learn that her ancestors once practiced bundling before marriage.
Historians have noted that families sometimes encouraged their children to practice bundling for propriety's sake.
They decided to practice bundling during their courtship.
Why do you want to practice bundling?
In colonial America, couples often practiced bundling to maintain propriety during courtship.
They decided to practice bundling because it was a traditional courtship custom.
Historians have noted that to practice bundling was a common part of courtship in earlier times.

Synonyms

to bundle

vsto practice bundling

Archaic

1 9.9

To sleep fully clothed in the same bed with the person you plan to marry

shares the same meaning but is the more formal historic label

Surface Forms

practice bundling infinitive

practiced bundling past

practiced bundling past participle

practicing bundling present participle

practices bundling third person singular

Morphology

practice + bundling

The meaning is directly compositional: 'practice' (to engage in or perform a customary action) combined with 'bundling' (the specific courtship practice of sleeping clothed together) yields 'to engage in bundling.' This noun+noun/verbalised-noun construction is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The verb practice bundling comes from an old courtship habit. Couples would sleep fully dressed in the same bed, literally bundling together while their families watched for proper behaviour, and that's why the phrase means 'to sleep fully clothed in the same bed with one's betrothed'.