English

Noun

kissing cousin ‎(plural kissing cousins)

1. A relatively distant relative who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.
2. (figuratively) A similar or related thing.
   • 1994, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Universe Down to Earth, Columbia University Press, ISBN 023107560X, page 175,

     Silicon is a “kissing cousin” of carbon. Notice it immediately below carbon in the Periodic Table. The arrangement of silicon’s outer electrons resembles those of carbon. For this reason, silicon and carbon are chemically similar.

Synonyms

• kissing kin

Translations