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EMBRACING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
Synonyms:
embrace; embracement; embracing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("embracing" is a kind of...):
clasp; clench; clutch; clutches; grasp; grip; hold (the act of grasping)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "embracing"):
cuddle; nestle; snuggle (a close and affectionate (and often prolonged) embrace)
clinch; hug; squeeze (a tight or amorous embrace)
Derivation:
embrace (hold (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb embrace
Context examples:
My aunt embracing the proposal, we were all three going out together, when he stopped and said: Our little friend here might have some motive, perhaps, for objecting to the arrangements.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Miss Bingley's civility to Elizabeth increased at last very rapidly, as well as her affection for Jane; and when they parted, after assuring the latter of the pleasure it would always give her to see her either at Longbourn or Netherfield, and embracing her most tenderly, she even shook hands with the former.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“All good attend you, dear old woman,” he said, embracing Peggotty, “and you too, Mas'r Davy!” shaking hands with me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
At first Miss Mills thought it was a quarrel, and that we were verging on the Desert of Sahara; but she soon found out how matters stood, for my dear affectionate little Dora, embracing her, began exclaiming that I was a poor labourer; and then cried for me, and embraced me, and asked me would I let her give me all her money to keep, and then fell on Miss Mills's neck, sobbing as if her tender heart were broken.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
When it was asleep again, I crept close to my mother's side according to my old custom, broken now a long time, and sat with my arms embracing her waist, and my little red cheek on her shoulder, and once more felt her beautiful hair drooping over me—like an angel's wing as I used to think, I recollect—and was very happy indeed.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Ah! little did Mr. Spenlow imagine, when he sat opposite to me after dinner that day, with his pocket-handkerchief over his head, how fervently I was embracing him, in my fancy, as his son-in-law!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
