Anilingus (from the Latin anus + -lingus, from lingere, "to lick", variantly spelled "analingus",^[1][2]) is the oral and anal sex act in which a person stimulates the anus of another by using the mouth, including lips, tongue, or teeth. It is also called anal–oral contact and anal–oral sex; colloquial names include rimming, rim job, or tossing the salad. It may be performed by and on persons of any sexual orientation for pleasure or as a form of erotic humiliation. Health risks include fecal–oral transmission of diseases.

The term anilingus entered English through the 1899 F. J. Rebman translation of Edition 10 of sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 book Psychopathia sexualis.^[3][4]

Pleasure for the giver during anilingus is usually based more on the principle of the act.^[5][6] The anus has a relatively high concentration of nerve endings and can be an erogenous zone, and the receiver may receive pleasure from external anal stimulation. The person receiving anilingus is regarded as the passive partner in the act, and the person performing anilingus is the active partner. People may engage in anilingus for its own sake, before anal fingering or penetration, or as part of foreplay. Studies indicate that anilingus is a rare sexual practice between women.^[7][8]

Anilingus can involve a variety of techniques to stimulate the anus, including kissing or licking; it may also involve the tongue moving around the edge of the anus or up and down the insides of the cheeks of the buttocks, and in and out of the anus.

Anilingus can be performed in a number of sex positions including:

Anilingus has potential health risks arising from the oral contact with human feces. Diseases which may be transmitted by contact with feces include: bacterial diseases including shigellosis (bacillary dysentery); viral systemic diseases including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, poliomyelitis, human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus; parasites including intestinal parasites; and infections and inflammations chlamydia infection, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, gonorrhea, lymphogranuloma venereum^[12] and other sexually transmitted infections.^[13]

Applying the mouth to the genitals immediately after applying it to the anus can introduce the bacterium Escherichia coli ("E. coli") into the urethra, leading to a urinary tract infection. HIV/AIDS is not believed to be easily transmitted through anilingus.^[14]

Anilingus with a number of casual partners increases the health risks associated with the practice. Generally, people carrying infections that may be passed on during anilingus appear healthy. Parasites may be in the feces if undercooked meat was consumed. The feces contain traces of hepatitis A only if the infected person has eaten contaminated food.

Another recent study suggests a correlation between oral sex and throat cancer. It is believed that this is due to the transmission of HPV because this virus has been implicated in most cervical cancers. The study concludes that people who had one to five oral-sex partners in their lifetime had approximately a doubled risk of throat cancer compared with those who never engaged in this activity. Those with more than five oral-sex partners had a 250% increased risk compared with those who never engaged in this activity.^[15]

Safe sex practices may include thorough washing of the anal region before anilingus to wash away most external fecal particles and reduce the risk of contraction of fecal-sourced infection. An enema can also reduce the risk of direct fecal contact.^[16] A dental dam may also be used, and another safe sex practice is to avoid unprotected sex which involves fellatio after anal intercourse.

If the receiving partner has wounds or open sores on the genitals, or if the giving partner has wounds or open sores on or in the mouth, or bleeding gums, this poses an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections. Brushing the teeth, flossing, undergoing dental work, and eating crunchy foods (such as potato chips) relatively soon before or after performing anilingus also increases the risk of transmission, because all of these activities can cause small scratches on the inside of the lips, cheeks, and palate. These wounds, even when they are microscopic, increase the chances of contracting sexually transmitted infections that can be transmitted orally under these conditions.

Forced and mostly public anilingus was used as a form of humiliation and punishment, usually of prisoners. The use of the practice in the Thirty Years' War was described by Grimmelshausen in Simplicius Simplicissimus (1668).^[17] The practice is commonly referred to as "arse licking", and the term is still at times applied to the behaviour of someone who is overly respectful or helpful to someone in authority.^[18]

In the United States prison system, anilingus is one of the ways one prisoner pays his dues to another inmate. In prison slang, this activity is known as "tossing a salad".^[19][20]