embrace - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

To embrace something is to welcome it with open arms, hold, hug, accept completely. You might embrace your sweetheart, or even changes in technology.

Embrace is from the French verb embrasser, which started out meaning "to clasp in the arms" (but now includes kissing). You embrace someone by giving her a giant hug, and when you embrace a new idea, it's like your brain gives it a hug. The noun and verb form are similar: If you embrace someone who isn't your sweetheart, you might get caught in an embrace. In Henry IV, Shakespeare writes about a really, really tight embrace: "I will embrace him with a soldier's arm/That he shall shrink under my courtesy."

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: embrace

1	v n	squeeze (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)
2	v n	take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own a close affectionate and protective acceptance
3	v	include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: embrace

1

v squeeze (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness

“They embraced”

Synonyms:: bosom, hug, squeeze

Types:: 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

Type of:: clasp
hold firmly and tightly

n the act of clasping another person in the arms (as in greeting or affection)

Synonyms:: embracement, embracing

Types:: cuddle, nestle, snuggle
a close and affectionate (and often prolonged) embrace; clinch, hug, squeeze
a tight or amorous embrace

Type of:: clasp, clench, clutch, clutches, grasp, grip, hold
the act of grasping

n the state of taking in or encircling

“an island in the embrace of the sea”

Type of:: inclusion
the state of being included

2

v take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

“She embraced Catholicism”

Synonyms:: adopt, espouse, sweep up

Types:: fasten on, hook on, latch on, seize on, take up
adopt

Type of:: accept
consider or hold as true

n a close affectionate and protective acceptance

“his willing embrace of new ideas”

Synonyms:: bosom

Type of:: acceptance, acceptation, adoption, espousal
the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception

3

v include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory

Synonyms:: comprehend, cover, encompass

: address, cover, deal, handle, plow, treat
act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression

Type of:: include
have as a part, be made up out of