masturbate
v.v. to touch your own sexual organs for pleasure. It is a private act that people do to feel good or relax.
v. to stimulate one's own genitals for sexual pleasure, typically resulting in orgasm. Intransitive or reflexive in use.
Some people masturbate to relieve stress before sleeping.
Health experts generally agree that it is normal for adults to masturbate as part of a healthy sexual life.
While historical medical texts often pathologised the urge to masturbate, contemporary psychology views it as a common and harmless method of sexual self-expression.
A back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbātus (see -ate), past participle of masturbor. Further derivation of the Latin verb is uncertain; see masturbor for more.
The verb is often used intransitively, though it can also be used reflexively ('to masturbate oneself').