kiss

give someone the kiss of life (British & Australian)

to help someone who has stopped breathing to breathe again by blowing into their mouth and pressing their chest. A doctor who had witnessed the accident gave the victim the kiss of life but failed to revive him.

See also: give, life

kiss and make up (humorous)

if two people kiss and make up, they stop being angry with each other and become friendly again. Ian and I used to fight a lot, but we always kissed and made up afterwards.

kiss and tell

to talk on television, in a newspaper etc. about a sexual relationship you have had with a famous person, especially in order to get a lot of money. The singer's ex-girlfriend was paid £20,000 by a tabloid newspaper to kiss and tell.

See also: tell

kiss (someone's) ass (American, very informal)

to try too hard to please someone and to agree with everything they say, in a way which other people find unpleasant. If you want promotion around here, you're going to have to kiss ass.

See also: ass

Kiss my arse! (taboo!)

something that you say in order to tell someone that you will not do what they want you to. He asked for money, and I told him he could kiss my arse.

See also: arse

the kiss of death (informal)

an event or action that causes something to fail or be spoiled. Asking Jenny to cook is the kiss of death for any dinner party. (often + for)

See also: death

kiss-and-tell

kiss and tell - to talk on television, in a newspaper etc. about a sexual relationship you have had with a famous person, especially in order to get a lot of money. Her kiss-and-tell revelations scandalized Hollywood. (always before noun)

kiss/lick someone's arse (British & Australian, taboo!)

to try too hard to please someone and to agree with everything they say, in a way which other people find unpleasant. I'm not interested in promotion if you have to lick the boss's arse to get it.

See also: arse, lick

kiss/say/wave goodbye to something

if you say goodbye to something, you accept that you will not have it any more or that you will not get it. You can say goodbye to your £10. Tom never repays his debts.

See also: goodbye, say, wave

a kissing cousin (old-fashioned)

someone you are related to but not very closely. I didn't realize she knew Tony, but in fact, they're kissing cousins.

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kiss and make up

to become friendly again after arguing. Why can't we kiss and make up? I don't want us to be angry.

kiss and tell

to publicly discuss private information about someone you know well. She doesn't kiss and tell, not even in her new memoir.

Usage notes: often said about published information about someone famous

See also: tell

kiss (someone's) ass

to praise someone more than is reasonable. I usually have to kiss ass just to get these musicians to show up.

Usage notes: usually said about praise intended to make someone like you or do something you want

See also: ass

kiss something goodbye

1. to lose something. If you lend him money, you should just kiss it goodbye.

2. to end something. We began to argue all the time, so I kissed another relationship goodbye. You can kiss goodbye any hopes you had of winning the lottery.

See also: goodbye

kiss off

go away. She finally decided to tell her boss to kiss off.

kiss off someone/something

to get rid of someone or something. The company plans to kiss off three thousand employees next month. If you raise prices, you'll just be kissing your customers off.

you can kiss something goodbye

you will not get something back. If you don't close your purse, you can kiss that money goodbye. If we allow these regulations to become law, you can kiss sidewalk food carts goodbye. You can say goodbye to your job if we don't get that contract.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of kiss someone goodbye (= to press your lips against someone else's when you are leaving them)

See also: can, goodbye