hugging

SayHUG-ing/ˈhʌɡɪŋ/

2 meanings of hugging

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of wrapping your arms around someone and holding them close, usually as a sign of affection or comfort.
Hugging played a big part in how the team celebrated the win.
She found that a few minutes of hugging eased the child's fears.
Similarcuddling, embracing
Note
Unlike the verbal gerund, this noun can be counted as well as massed. Used without an article, it names the activity in general: hugging comforts. In the plural it names separate episodes, as when Catharine Maria Sedgwick's Tales and Sketches (1844) has a family part 'after many huggings and kissings'. The plural pairs naturally with other -ings of farewell.
2
verb
Present participle of hug.
He is hugging the trophy as if he never wants to let it go.
The children kept hugging their grandmother before she left.
Note
The -ing form carries every sense of hug, not only the embrace. A car hugging a curve uses the 'stay close to' sense, and someone hugging a grievance uses the figurative 'cling to, cherish' sense. As a gerund it is spelled exactly like the noun for the act. You can tell them apart because the verbal gerund takes a direct object: hugging her helped.
The road kept hugging the coastline for miles.
He went on hugging his old grudge long after everyone else had forgotten it.

hugging is a form of hug

hug, verb: To hold a person or thing closely, usually wrapping your arms around them. Full entry

Forms: hughugs he/she/ithugging -ing formhugged past tense, past participle
Spelling: hug → hugging: double the g, add -ing

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