cruising
noun/ˈkɹuːzɪŋ/
Etymology By surface analysis, cruise + -ing.
1
Sailing about without an exact destination, especially for pleasure.
- Cruising is a popular activity among the over-60s.
- Maintenance time takes away from the time for sightseeing, fishing, reading, or the other things that were the original objectives of cruising.2000, Jim Howard, Charles J. Doane, Handbook of Offshore Cruising: The Dream and Reality of Modern Ocean Cruising, Sheridan House, Inc., →ISBN, page 13:
2
Driving around without an exact destination, as a social activity.
- Cruising was a popular pasttime for teens in this area at the time.
3
Of a baby Walking unsteadily while holding onto objects such as furniture and walls: a stage in the development of ambulation (unassisted walking), typically occurring around age 10 months.
Child development
- Cruising is a fun stage for the baby, even though there are going to be some mild falls and crying during the course of it.
4
Slang Walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner for casual sex, especially among gay men.
- There was a fair amount of cruising going on at the gay party.
- Within their [homosexuals'] own group, too, there is considerable social discrimination. In the most “respectable” class are those who do no “cruising,” i.e., picking up “friends” at random in the parks or streets.1927, Aaron J. Rosanoff, “Sexual Psychopaths”, in Manual of Psychiatry, 6th edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., →OCLC, page 203:
4 more examples
- The press screamed headlines about castrating perverts, but the parks and cruising places remained as populous as ever. And with good cause.1940 January-June, Allen Bernstein, Millions of Queers (Our Homo America), [Unpublished MS of the United States National Library of Medicine], →OCLC, page 15:
- For example, when a homosexual goes cruising, he runs the risk of being arrested, blackmailed or beaten up. Therefore, [Bergler concludes] homosexuals want to be hurt, humiliated, defeated and destroyed; they are all psychic masochists.1957 May, Richard Mayer, “Quote Cure Unquote... a la [Edward] Bergler”, in Mattachine Review, volume III, number 5, Los Angeles: Mattachine Society, →ISSN, page 22:
- But even so, the gay boys who are out cruising aren’t being especially cautious. They’ve even made a pickup gambit out of it. “If that bulge in your pants isn’t a knife, let’s go for a walk.” That sort of thing.1970, Gerald Walker, Cruising, New York: Stein and Day, →ISBN, page 104:
- Gay cruising in hotel bars was quiet and covert, but still charged with erotic possibilities and an awareness that there was little time to waste.1990, Allan Bérubé, Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two, New York: The Free Press, →OCLC, page 114:
5
Bodybuilding, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Slang Reducing the dosage of PEDs instead of cycling them off.
- Derived terms
- anticruising, booze cruising, cruising chute, cruising lane, cruising speed, precruising
- Related terms
- cruising for a bruising