to exchange hugs
1
1.0
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
intercambiar abrazos
- They exchange quick hugs with Miguel and Andrew, ad-libbing greetings and goodbyes.
- shook hands and exchanged hugs
Examples
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When they met at the airport, they exchanged hugs to celebrate their long-awaited reunion.
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We all exchanged hugs, and it seemed like my parents were in good spirits.
Blog text (7) -
Make a post about a genuinely horrible thing, and we have a productive conversation, exchange hugs, and immediately derail the conversation by talking about how great Scody is.
Blog text (13) -
We exchanged hugs as we greeted each other at the reunion.
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After the ceremony, the friends exchanged hugs and said their goodbyes.
Synonyms
142
2.8
To hold someone tightly to show affection
Antonyms
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to hug each other' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'exchange' (to give and receive) with 'hugs' (acts of holding someone affectionately): give-and-receive + hugs = mutually hug. This is a regular compositional pattern in English (and found in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Exchange hugs comes from the simple image of two people giving and receiving hugs: each person puts their arms around the other, like swapping a small gift. So exchange hugs means 'to hug each other', often as a 'greeting' or when saying 'goodbye'.