From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishembraceem‧brace1 /ɪmˈbreɪs/ ●○○ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]HOLD to put your arms around someone and hold them in a friendly or loving way SYN hug Jack warmly embraced his son. Maggie and Laura embraced.► see thesaurus at hug2 [transitive] formalACCEPT to eagerly accept a new idea, opinion, religion etc We hope these regions will embrace democratic reforms. Most West European countries have embraced the concept of high-speed rail networks with enthusiasm.3 [transitive] formalINCLUDE to include something as part of a subject, discussion etc This course embraces several different aspects of psychology.GRAMMAR: Reciprocal verbsEmbrace is a reciprocal verb. This type of verb is used when saying that two or more people or things do something that involves both or all of them. It does not need to have an object: They embraced. In this sentence, embrace is intransitive and does not have an object.You can also say: He embraced her.They embraced each other. In these sentences, embrace is transitive.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
embrace• Before my flight was called we stood and embraced.• The word "culture' embraces both artistic and sociological aspects of a society.• The category "kinsmen' also embraces grandparents and grandchildren.• Phoebe ran to embrace her mother.• He jumped up and embraced his lawyer with both arms.• And like its counterparts within the high-performance loop, a program of inclusiveness can be insincerely embraced or carried to ridiculous lengths.• Though they were alone they did not embrace or kiss.• We embrace our rules and red tape to prevent bad things from happening, of course.• I embraced the external formalities of femininity, its appearances, behaviors, look, and feel.• By the end of the last century, Americans had embraced the idea of the right to free public education for all children.• The President said he wholeheartedly embraced the need for further talks on the refugee crisis.• Shadwell embraced them, and they kissed him, apparently without revulsion.• The dark edge of the forest showed before them, advanced and embraced them.• Wings embracing, they play in bright sunlight, Necks caressing roam the blue clouds.• The reality of reengineering has begun to gnaw away at those who had earnestly embraced this newest form of management self-improvement.embraceembrace2 ●○○ noun [countable] HOLDthe act of holding someone close to you, especially as a sign of lovein an embrace They held each other in a tender embrace.Examples from the Corpus
embrace• So both went down, literally in deadly embrace...• She threw herself into his arms, sighing deeply when he half-heartedly returned her embrace.• His comment came as he was asked to explain his recent embrace of several Republican initiatives.• They were like a needle stuck in a gramophone record, inexorably repeating embrace after embrace.• Religions have also often attempted to reduce all human action to stylistic embrace as an expression of cosmological pretensions.• The children rushed into the embrace of their father.• He caught Nina into a tight embrace, holding her close.• Even outside all these imaginings, rumor and derision held us in an unwelcome embrace.in an embrace• It is time the regime proved how much it loves its country and how much courage it has in embracing change.• No doubt it was hard enough to accept the volteface involved in embracing an element of property tax.• Ljungberg falls in the box with Babayaro locked in an embrace from behind.• And when that happens, you will surely see Switzer and Jones locked in an embrace.• Simultaneously they turned to face one another and a moment later they were locked in an embrace.• We would hold each other in an embrace, exchanging long kisses, and rock our bodies together until they overflowed.• Automatically his arms went out in embrace, but almost as they touched there was a double flash of light.Origin embrace1 (1300-1400) Old French embracier, from brace “two arms” 