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Glite Dictionary
to wrap arms around

to wrap arms around

38 2.8
To put your arms around someone or something to show love and protect them
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : abrazar
  • Diane ran back to Shelley and wrapped her arms around her leg.
  • wrap arms around

It felt like someone, like an angelic force wrapped its arms around me and just said everything's going to be OK.

Examples

  • Suddenly, Leya moved, throwing herself forward, attempting to wrap her arms around the Myrddraal's legs.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • And she put these bags down immediately and she wrapped her arms around me and she started rocking me and sang me a lullaby.

  • Finally, Lily dropped the brush and wrapped her arms around her.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Don Ward stepped close, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Absorbed against her better judgment, she sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Lily smiled and rushed to her, wrapping her arms around her.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • And this kind of hippie grandma lady in big flowing robes, whatever, saw me and came and wrapped her arms around me.

  • Anthony grinned and wrapped his arms around Ian's waist.

  • It felt like someone, like an angelic force wrapped its arms around me and just said everything's going to be OK.

    Liam Tuffs

  • I always feel safe when he writes his arms around me in a warm embrace.

Synonyms

to hug
vsto wrap arms around
336 1.0

To hold someone tightly in your arms to show care

includes both affectionate contact and deliberate protective surrounding
to embrace
vsto wrap arms around
142 2.8

To hold someone tightly to show affection

adds a protective surrounding sense as well as affection
to cuddle
vsto wrap arms around
72 1.0

Holding someone close in your arms to show love or comfort

also implies wrapping arms for protection as well as closeness
to squeeze
vsto wrap arms around
72 1.0

To hold someone tightly in your arms to show affection

is broader, including gentle protective surrounding not only forceful hold
to clasp
vsto wrap arms around
33 2.6

To hold a person or thing tightly with your hands

focuses more on affectionate or protective arm surrounding rather than mere grip
to cuddle with
vsto wrap arms around
5 2.3

To hold someone or a soft thing close to show love

adds a clearer protective arm wrapping sense beyond simple closeness
to bosom
vsto wrap arms around
  • Literature
7.7

Hold someone tightly in your arms to give them comfort

stresses putting arms around with both affection and protection

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

to push away
37 2.0

To move something away from you by pushing with your hands

How Affectionate

to embrace
142 2.8
to wrap arms around
38 2.8
to hug
336 1.0
to pat
110 1.0

Surface Forms

wrap arms around infinitive
wrapped arms around past
wrapped arms around past participle
wrapping arms around present participle
wraps arms around third person singular

Morphology

wrap + arm + around

The meaning is directly compositional: 'wrap' (wind/cover) + 'arms' (limbs) + 'around' (surround) yields the image of placing one's arms around someone, which a B1 learner who knows the words can readily infer. This construction follows common cross-linguistic patterns for hugging/embracing, so the sense (affectionate/protective embrace) is transparently derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Wrap arms around comes from a simple picture: you wrap your arms around someone, making a circle with your arms like a hug to hold or protect them. So it means 'to put your arms around someone in an affectionate or protective way'.