I. mas ‧ sage 1 /ˈmæsɑːʒ $ məˈsɑːʒ/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Language: French ; Origin: masser 'to massage' , from Arabic massa 'to stroke' ]
the action of pressing and rubbing someone’s body with your hands, to help them relax or to reduce pain in their muscles or joints:
Massage helps ease the pain.
Why don’t you have a massage?
Joan gave me a gentle neck massage.
body/shoulder/foot etc massage
A full-body massage lasts around one hour.
II. massage 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to press and rub someone’s body with your hands, to help them relax or to reduce pain in their muscles:
Alex massaged Helena’s aching back.
massage something into something
Gently massage the lotion into your skin.
2 . to change official numbers or information in order to make them seem better than they are – used in order to show disapproval SYN cook the books :
Myers accused the government of deliberately massaging the unemployment figures.
3 . massage sb’s ego to try to make someone feel that they are important, attractive, intelligent etc:
The portrait painter had the power to massage the king’s ego or to expose his flaws.