According to the Oxford Dictionaries: "(2) Slang , a
sexual activity of
homosexuals involving mutual
masturbation." According to Fintan O'Toole's review of Edward Mendelson's "Complete Works of W.H. Auden" (vols. V and VI) in the New York Review of Books of Oct. 22, 2015, the expression was used by W.H. Auden in his essay on J.R. Ackerley's memoir, "My Father and Myself". Auden made it into the OED with two citations (for first use in print) from this essay of his, for "plain-sewing" and for "Princeton-First-Year", which means frottage, or rubbing, generally. Using the hyphen better distinguishes the expression from its main usage, that is, to refer to simple sewing.