HUG

hug, clinch, squeeze

(noun) a tight or amorous embrace; “come here and give me a big hug”

hug

(verb) fit closely or tightly; “The dress hugged her hips”

embrace, hug, bosom, squeeze

(verb) hold (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness; “Hug me, please”; “They embraced”; “He hugged her close to him”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

hug (plural hugs)

A close embrace, especially when charged with such an emotion as represented by: affection, joy, relief, lust, anger, agression, compassion, and the like, as opposed to being characterized by formality, equivocation or ambivalence (a half-embrace or "little hug").

A particular grip in wrestling.

Verb

hug (third-person singular simple present hugs, present participle hugging, simple past and past participle hugged)

(intransitive, obsolete) To crouch; huddle as with cold.

(intransitive) To cling closely together.

(transitive) To embrace by holding closely, especially in the arms.

(transitive) To stay close to (the shore etc.)

(transitive, figurative) To hold fast; to cling to; to cherish.

Synonyms

• (crouch): hunker, squat, stoop

• (cling closely): cleave, stick; see also adhere

• (embrace): accoll (obsolete), coll, embrace; see also embrace

• (stay close to)

• (hold fast): treasure

Anagrams

• Ghu, ghu, ugh

Source: Wiktionary


Hug, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Hugged; p. pr. & vb. n. Hugging.] Etym: [Prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. sidde paa huk to squat, Sw. huka sig to squat, Icel. h. Cf. Huckster.]

1. To cower; to crouch; to curl up. [Obs.] Palsgrave.

2. To crowd together; to cuddle. [Obs.] Shak.

Hug, v. t.

1. To press closely within the arms; to clasp to the bosom; to embrace. "And huggen me in his arms." Shak.

2. To hold fast; to cling to; to cherish. We hug deformities if they bear our names. Glanvill.

3. (Naut.)

Definition: To keep close to; as, to hug the land; to hug the wind. To hug one's self, to congratulate one's self; to chuckle.

Hug, n.

Definition: A close embrace or clasping with the arms, as in affection or in wrestling. Fuller.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 May 2025

CRITICAL

(adjective) characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; “a critical reading”; “a critical dissertation”; “a critical analysis of Melville’s writings”


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Coffee Trivia

The world’s most expensive coffee costs more than US$700 per kilogram. Asian palm civet – a cat-like creature in Indonesia, eats fruits, including select coffee cherries. It excretes partially digested seeds that produce a smooth, less acidic brew of coffee called kopi luwak.

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