embrace. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

embrace

SYLLABICATION:	em·brace
PRONUNCIATION:	m-brs
VERB:	Inflected forms: em·braced, em·brac·ing, em·brac·es
TRANSITIVE VERB:	1. To clasp or hold close with the arms, usually as an expression of affection. 2a. To surround; enclose: We allowed the warm water to embrace us. b. To twine around: a trellis that was embraced by vines. 3. To include as part of something broader. See synonyms at include. 4. To take up willingly or eagerly: embrace a social cause. 5. To avail oneself of: “I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace” (Henry James).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:	To join in an embrace.
NOUN:	1. An act of holding close with the arms, usually as an expression of affection; a hug. 2. An enclosure or encirclement: caught in the jungle's embrace. 3. Eager acceptance: your embrace of Catholicism.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English embracen, from Old French embracer : en-, in; see en–¹ + brace, the two arms; see brace.
OTHER FORMS:	em·bracea·ble —ADJECTIVE em·bracement —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.