cuddle puddle
n. A whirlpool bath or hot tub; a group of people lying together on the floor hugging and massaging each other.
Examples
2001
Strictly speaking, Jacuzzi is a brand name not a generic. … Germans apparently call them 'little pools', while Labelle seems to be under the impression that Brits call them 'cuddle puddles'.
—Miranda Fettes, “Bubbling Passion,” The Scotsman, June 23, 2001
1997
By the last [yoga] class session, … Tesh gathers us into a closely knit circle again, and, as on the first evening, belly against our neighbor's back, legs stretching wide alongside theirs, we breathe and move together. Someone suggests we form a 'cuddle puddle,' and for a few moments we become a contented, intertwined clump, like a nestling litter of sleeping puppies.
—Todd Jones, “Contact Yoga,” Yoga Journal, October 31, 1997
1987 (earliest)
In Burundi Euro MPs danced on the tables. In Swaziland they relaxed in a hotel jacuzzi known as the 'cuddle puddle'.
—Richard Owen, “Europe's nice little earner,” The Times, March 20, 1987
Notes
Subscriber Richard de Oude notes that the cuddle puddle mentioned in the first citation is from the Royal Swazi Sun Hotel and Casino at Ezulwini, Swaziland. He tells me that a natural hot spring supplies water to two swimming pools in the hotel's recreation area, and the smaller of the two pools has had the nickname "Cuddle Puddle" for many years.
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