embrace

em-BRAYS/ɛmˈbɹeɪs/

Verbembraces, embracing, embraced

Noun pluralembraces

12 meanings of embrace

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To hold someone close in your arms to show love or friendship.
Like wrapping your arms around someone to keep them close.
She ran to embrace her brother at the airport.
They embraced each other after the long trip apart.
Similarhug, hold, clasp, cuddle
Note
2
nouncountable
A hug, or the act of holding someone close in your arms.
Like wrapping your arms snugly around a friend.
She gave her mother a warm embrace before leaving.
The two friends shared a long embrace at the reunion.
Similarhug, clasp, cuddle
Note
3
verbfigurativelytransitive
To accept something gladly and with excitement.
Like opening your arms wide to welcome something new.
The team embraced the new plan right away.
Young people quickly embrace new technology.
Similarwelcome, accept, adopt, seize
Oppositereject, resist, avoid, spurn
4
nounfigurativelycountable
Full and glad acceptance of something.
Like saying a big yes to something with open arms.
Her embrace of the new lifestyle surprised everyone.
The country's embrace of clean energy grew each year.
Similaracceptance, adoption, endorsement
Oppositerejection
Note
5
verbfigurativelytransitive
To include or hold different ideas or things together as part of a whole.
Like a big box that holds many smaller things inside.
The new course embraces both science and art.
These rules embrace every kind of member.
Similarencompass, include, incorporate, cover, comprise
Oppositeexclude
6
verbfigurativelytransitive
To surround something on all sides.
Like arms wrapping all the way around something.
Tall hills embrace the small village.
A stone wall embraced the old garden.
Similarsurround, entwine
7
nounfigurativelycountable
A space that surrounds someone or something, all the way around or part way.
Like a fence that wraps around a yard.
The cabin sat within the embrace of the forest.
Sailors felt safe in the harbor's embrace.
Similarshelter, enclosure
Note
8
nounfigurativelycountable
The act of taking something in to make it part of a group or whole.
Like adding new pieces into a puzzle to complete it.
The club's embrace of new members boosted its numbers.
Her embrace of every viewpoint made the meeting longer.
Similarinclusion, incorporation, acceptance
Oppositeexclusion
9
verbfigurativelytransitive
To accept something hard and go through it without fighting it.
Like accepting bad weather and walking through it anyway.
She chose to embrace the long recovery ahead of her.
They embraced the hardships of the journey.
Similaraccept
Oppositeresist, reject
Note

Less common meanings

10
verbobsoletefigurativelytransitive
To accept someone as a friend, or to gladly take their help.
He bears himſelfe more proudlier, / Euen to my perſon, then I thought he would / When firſt I did embrace him.
c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”Here, embrace means to accept someone as a friend and gladly take their help.
Note
11
verbobsoletetransitive
To put on and fasten a piece of armor onto the body.
Note
12
verbobsoletefigurativelytransitive
To try to influence a court or jury in an illegal, dishonest way.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of embrace apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from an old French word meaning "to kiss," built from Latin parts meaning "in" and "arm."