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chatouiller

to tickle

verb shah-too-YAY Rare

Usage Note

Chatouiller is a regular -er verb. The noun chatouillement means 'a tickle' or 'tickling sensation', and the adjective chatouilleux/chatouilleuse means 'ticklish' but also figuratively 'touchy' or 'sensitive' about a subject — il est chatouilleux sur ce point ('he's touchy about that').

Examples

"Elle le chatouille et il rit aux éclats."

Natural Translation

She tickles him and he bursts out laughing.

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