bill and coo

English[edit]

bill and coo (third-person singular simple present bills and coos, present participle billing and cooing, simple past and past participle billed and cooed)

(of birds such as pigeons and doves) To coo and rub beaks as a prelude to mating.
(of romantic couples) To exchange loving and affectionate behaviour, such as caresses and kisses.
- 1869, William Thackeray, “Piscator and Piscatrix”, in Ballads, published 1881, page 88:
  To be brave, handsome, twenty-two; / With nothing else on earth to do, / But all day long to bill and coo; / It were a pleasant calling.
- 1875, Anthony Trollope, Miss Mackenzie, Norilana Books, page 122:
  "It's not as if you two were young people, and wanted to be billing and cooing," Lady Ball had said to her the same evening. Miss Mackenzie, as she thought of this, was not so sure that Lady Ball was right. Why would she not want billing and cooing as well as another?
- 1973, Bryan Ferry (lyrics and music), “Pyjamarama”, performed by Roxy Music:
  Take a sweet girl just like you / How nice if only we could bill and coo

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