bear-hugs

verb

present tense third-person singular of bear-hug
as in hugs
to put one's arms around and press tightly elated team members bear-hugging everyone in sight

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bear-hugs
  1. hugs
  2. clasps
Verb
  • The park hugs 118 winding miles of the Rio Grande, nearly a quarter of the international boundary patrolled by Customs and Border Protection in the much larger Big Bend Sector.
    — Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The Forks National Historic Site, a nine-acre park filled with public art, hugs the river behind the market.
    — Maryam Siddiqi, Travel + Leisure, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of hugs
Verb
  • King clasps his head, ready to shield his eyes if need be.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 26 May 2026
  • Abner clasps Questelle’s face in her hands.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 May 2026
Definition of clasps
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bear-hugging
bear-hugs
bearing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bear-hugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bear-hugs. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tilde

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All