embracing

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of embrace

noun

1. The act of embracing (in various senses).
   Ay, in so doing you will but voluntarily throw yourself into her arms, and, with fond embracings, proclaim yourself a willing servant; do not, in the wild endeavor to win fame, strive to crush her power! 1849, Charles Frederick Briggs, Holden's Dollar Magazine, volumes 3-4, page 240
   […] a moment later such cheering and shouting, such jumps and reels of joy, such hand-shakings and kissings and embracings of everybody by everybody else broke out that the tears came into Jill’s eyes. 1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 15, in The Silver Chair, London: Geoffrey Bles