Glossary of Kink/BDSM terms

Blood Play • Any activity that draws blood.

Bottom • A person who receives an activity in a scene.

Bunny • One who allows themselves to be tied in rope.

CBT • Cock and Ball Torture.

Dominant • A person who takes control of another person.

Electrical Play • A type of play where electricity is used on the body.

Edge Play • Activities that are inherently risky. For example, suffocation.

Impact Play • A form of play where one person strikes another.

Lifestyle • A name for BDSM used by people who practice it.

Masochist • Person who enjoys or seeks out pain.

Master • A term used by a submissive as a title for their Dominant.

Medical Play • Scenes using medical equipment such as speculums.

Mistress • A term used by a submissive as a title for their Dominant.

Mummification • A form of bondage where a person is completely restricted and immobilized.

Play • To engage in BDSM activities.

Poly • Polyamory, non-monogamy & ethical non-monogamy describes a range of relationship styles where partners are not monogamous, but neither do they cheat.

PRICK • Personal Responsibility in Consensual Kink.

RACK • Risk Aware Consensual Kink.

Rigger • A person who ties another person in rope.

Sadist • Person who enjoys or seeks out inflicting pain on masochists.

Sensation Play • Activities designed to elicit a range of physical sensations. That range from pleasant to painful.

Scene • A discrete portion of time dedicated to a single, or a number of, BDSM-specific activities.

Submissive • Person who allows another to take control of aspects of their life or experience over an extended time.

Slave • A person who has given up a large amount of control in their lives to another.

SSC • Safe, Sane and Consensual.

Swinging • Swinging is a lifestyle of casual sex with multiple people.

Vanilla • Refers to the non-kink people or activities.

Top • Person who controls the activity in a scene.

Wax Play • A form of sensual play in which a person drips warm or hot wax onto their partner’s skin.

Worship • Used in conjunction with a particular item or body-part (e.g., boot worship, genital worship). Worship usually involves licking, sucking and kissing the area.