canoodle

Origin unknown; compare Swedish knulla (“to fornicate”), German knuddeln (“to cuddle”). Folk etymology cites the use of two-person canoes as an activity to escape the presence of a chaperon by couples during Victorian and Edwardian times, and the activities such privacy allowed.

canoodle (third-person singular simple present canoodles, present participle canoodling, simple past and past participle canoodled)

1. To caress, pet, touch up, or make love.

   He’s got a big smile on his face; who’s he been canoodling recently?

   • 2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 7 December 2017:

     As Norah Jones coos sweet nothings on the soundtrack, the happy couple—played by Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler—canoodle through a Manhattan montage, making pasta for two, swimming through a pile of autumn leaves, and horsing around at a fruit stand.

2. To cajole or persuade.
   • 1900, Charles Felton Pidgin, Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks - A Picture of New England Home Life:

     He canoodled my husband into believin' that the end of the world was comin' and it was his duty to give all his property away.

canoodle (plural canoodles)

1. A cuddle, hug, or caress

• kanoodle