Hug Meaning
/hʌɡ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA close embrace, especially when charged with an emotion such as affection, joy, relief, lust, anger, aggression, compassion, and the like, as opposed to being characterized by formality, equivocation or ambivalence (a half-embrace or "little hug").
nounA particular grip in wrestling.
Sentence Examples
She wants to hug him.
Tom wants to hug Mary.
Tom gave Mary a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mother bent down to ____ her crying child after the fall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She gave her best friend a warm ____ before saying goodbye at the airport.
Word Origin & History
From earlier hugge (“to embrace, clasp with the arms”) (1560), probably representing a conflation of huck (“to crouch, huddle down”) and Old Norse hugga (“to comfort, console”), from hugr (“mind, heart, thought”), from Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“mind, thought, sense”), cognate with Icelandic hugga (“to comfort”), Old English hyġe (“thought”) (whence high (Etymology 2)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"They had a slight breast work, and they hugged down behind it and waited."
— 1885, M. Quad, Field, Fort and Fleet, page 354:
"That is why they are so little known and never explored. During the day, when a Chilean cruiser nosed around uncomfortably close, the little sloop would be hugged under the lee of one of the islands, sail lowered and anchor dropped."
— 1892, Paul Boyton, The Story of Paul Boyton:
"bright rocks whose stain of emerald or quartz shaft of shine the starfish hugged beneath the tide ."
— 1892, The Sewanee Review - Volume 66, page 263:
"She put her feet on a rung and hugged down against her knees, making herself even smaller."
— 2014, Thomas Gifford, The Cavanaugh Quest:
"Zhai Tingshen stood at the window upstairs, his black eyes staring intently at the figure that was tightly hugged below."
— 2020, Zhenyinfang, Marital Passion:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mother bent down to ____ her crying child after the fall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She gave her best friend a warm ____ before saying goodbye at the airport.