Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Embrace

Em·brace′ (ĕm·brās′), v. t. [Pref. em- (intens.) + brace, v. t.] To fasten on, as armor. [Obs.] Spenser.

Em·brace′, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Embraced (-brāst′); p. pr. & vb. n. Embracing (-brā′sĭng).] [OE. embracier, F. embrasser; pref. em- (L. in) + F. bras arm. See Brace, n.] 1. To clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug.

I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, That he shall shrink under my courtesy. Shak.

Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them. Acts xx. 1.

2. To cling to; to cherish; to love. Shak.

3. To seize eagerly, or with alacrity; to accept with cordiality; to welcome. "I embrace these conditions." "You embrace the occasion." Shak.

What is there that he may not embrace for truth? Locke.

4. To encircle; to encompass; to inclose.

Low at his feet a spacious plain is placed, Between the mountain and the stream embraced. Denham.

5. To include as parts of a whole; to comprehend; to take in; as, natural philosophy embraces many sciences.

Not that my song, in such a scanty space, So large a subject fully can embrace. Dryden.

6. To accept; to undergo; to submit to. "I embrace this fortune patiently." Shak.

7. (Law) To attempt to influence corruptly, as a jury or court. Blackstone.

Syn. — To clasp; hug; inclose; encompass; include; comprise; comprehend; contain; involve; imply.

Em·brace′ (ĕm·brās′), v. i. To join in an embrace.

Em·brace′, n. Intimate or close encircling with the arms; pressure to the bosom; clasp; hug.

We stood tranced in long embraces, Mixed with kisses. Tennyson.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.