Embrace \Em*brace"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Embraced; p. pr. & vb. n. Embracing.]

[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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)