Library / English Dictionary

HUG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: hugged    , hugging   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A tight or amorous embrace

Example:

come here and give me a big hug

Synonyms:

clinch; hug; squeeze

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hug" is a kind of...):

embrace; embracement; embracing (the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection))

Derivation:

hug (hold (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fit closely or tightly

Example:

The dress hugged her hips

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hug" is one way to...):

adjoin; contact; meet; touch (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hold (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness

Example:

He hugged her close to him

Synonyms:

bosom; embrace; hug; squeeze

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hug" is one way to...):

clasp (hold firmly and tightly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hug"):

clinch (embrace amorously)

cuddle (hold (a person or thing) close, as for affection, comfort, or warmth)

interlock; lock (become engaged or intermeshed with one another)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue hug

Sam cannot hug Sue

Derivation:

hug (a tight or amorous embrace)

hugger (a person who hugs)

hugging (affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs))

Credits

 Context examples: 

He pushed his way in, seized me in his mighty arms, hugged me in his bear’s embrace, covered me with kisses, and implored me to come away with him.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This hugging distance means that the planet is football shaped due to gravitational tidal forces.

(Hubble Uncovers a ‘Heavy Metal’ Exoplanet Shaped Like a Football, NASA)

As the researchers watched, the cluster slowly flattened, hugging the apparatus.

(Bees Help Researchers Confirm Theory about Maintaining Protective Clumps under Tough Conditions, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It would make them sometimes hug, and sometimes tear one another; they would howl, and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tumble, and then fall asleep in the mud.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This finding led the researchers to conclude that a light-absorbing gaseous form of titanium oxide, commonly found in this class of star-hugging, gas giant planet known as a hot Jupiter, has been removed from the dayside's atmosphere.

(Hubble Observes Exoplanet that Snows Sunscreen, NASA)

With an acknowledgment that he had quite forgot her, Mr. Price now received his daughter; and having given her a cordial hug, and observed that she was grown into a woman, and he supposed would be wanting a husband soon, seemed very much inclined to forget her again.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Mr. Darcy may hug himself.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The moment my aunt was restored, she flew at Peggotty, and calling her a silly old creature, hugged her with all her might.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They sat at the lowest depth of human misery, and hugged a bitter comfort to their souls as they realized that they could go no lower.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)