The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Massage \Mas"sage\, n. [F.]
   A rubbing or kneading of the body, especially when performed
   as a hygienic or remedial measure.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Massage \Mas"sage\, v. t. (Med.)
   To treat by means of massage; to rub or knead; as, to massage
   a patient with ointment.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

massage
    n 1: kneading and rubbing parts of the body to increase
         circulation and promote relaxation
    v 1: manually manipulate (someone's body), usually for medicinal
         or relaxation purposes; "She rubbed down her child with a
         sponge" [syn: massage, rub down, knead]
    2: give a massage to; "She massaged his sore back"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

73 Moby Thesaurus words for "massage":
   bandage, bathe, care for, caress, cure, cushion, diagnose, doctor,
   ease, facial, facial massage, feel up, fiddle, finagle, fluff,
   flux, fondle, frictionize, gentle, give care to, handle, heal,
   knead, kneading, laxate, limber, limber up, loosen, manipulate,
   manipulation, mash, massaging, massotherapy, mellow, milden,
   minister to, mollify, nose, nurse, nuzzle, operate on, palpate,
   pet, physic, plaster, plump, poultice, pulp, purge, relax, remedy,
   rub, rub against, rub down, rub noses, rubdown, shake up, smash,
   soften, soften up, splint, squash, strap, stroke, stroking, subdue,
   supple, tenderize, tone down, treat, tune down, vibrator,
   whirlpool bath



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

massage
 vt.

    [common] Vague term used to describe ?smooth? transformations of a data set
    into a different form, esp. transformations that do not lose information.
    Connotes less pain than munch or crunch. ?He wrote a program that
    massages X bitmap files into GIF format.? Compare slurp.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

massage

   Vague term used to describe "smooth" transformations of a data
   set into a different form, especially transformations that do
   not lose information.  Connotes less pain than munch or
   crunch.  "He wrote a program that massages X bitmap files
   into GIF format."  Compare slurp.

   [Jargon File]