Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A lesbian.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A woman who is addicted to tribady.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a lesbian

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a female homosexual

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Latin tribas, tribad-, from Greek, from trībein, to rub; see tribology.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin tribas, from Ancient Greek τριβάς (tribás), from τρίβω (tríbō, "to rub").

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Examples

  • very NSFW . . . well, it's a short for tribadism after the old term tribade, lesbian, and describes the practice of rubbing female genetalia against each other.

    Life of Brian: Brian David Phillips 2005

  • This called for that once a month specialty, tribade toast.

    MORE FROM GINNY BATES: PAINTERLAND Maggie Jochild 2007

  • Second, I wonder whether or not it makes sense to attempt to construct, from whatever resemblances there might be between "the tribade" and

    'That Obscure Object of Historical Desire' 2006

  • Hence the male féminisme whereby the man becomes patiens as well as agens, and the woman a tribade, a votary of mascula Sappho,364 Queen of Frictrices or Rubbers.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Moreover, Lanser seems to be elaborating the tension that Traub discerns in English Renaissance discourses between the figure of the tribade and the figure of the friend, the former being a monstrous image of sex and gender deviance while the latter embodies the possibility of a female homoeroticism contained within the bounds of virtue and the canons of femininity.

    'That Obscure Object of Historical Desire' 2006

  • The Republican Party known for its tribade salaciousness and back door buggery took another severe hit today after the president came out of the closet and admitted to an affair with former Florida congressman, Mark Foley.

    Think Progress » Karl Rove is “as aggressive as ever.” 2007

  • Madame de Lamballe, who was guillotined at the Revolution, was popularly regarded as a tribade, and it was said that on this account her charming head received the special insults of the mob.

    Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 Sexual Inversion Havelock Ellis 1899

  • I sometimes think that historical research on early modern Europe relies so heavily on forensic archives that it seems to retry accused sodomites (and the occasional tribade).

    Epinions Recent Content for Home 2010

  • At the same time she gently placed her hand on Ethel's cunt, and commenced to suck one of her nipples, whilst one finger was titillating her companion's incipient clitoris, which, although so small as to be scarcely visible, was tremendously sensitive to these tender and lascivious touches by such an experienced tribade.

    The Power of Mesmerism A Highly Erotic Narrative of Voluptuous Facts and Fancies Anonymous

  • ‘‘Lacedæmonius for a pathic and other writers apply it to a tribade.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

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