bearhug
bearhug Lexical Profile
bearhug Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A very tight, exuberant, and affectionate embrace.
"When they reunited at the airport, he greeted his brother with a massive bearhug."
A wrestling hold in which the opponent is clasped tightly around the body and arms, pinning their arms to their sides.
"The challenger struggled to break free from the champion's crushing bearhug."
In finance, an unsolicited takeover strategy in which an acquirer offers to buy a target company's shares at a generous premium above market value to pressure its board of directors into accepting.
"The conglomerate launched a corporate bearhug by offering shareholders forty percent above the current stock price."
• verb
To embrace someone very tightly and exuberantly, wrapping both arms completely around them.
"She ran across the room to bearhug her best friend after hearing the good news."
Word Nuance & Usage
While often spelled as an open compound ('bear hug') for the noun and hyphenated ('bear-hug') for the verb, the closed form 'bearhug' is also encountered for both parts of speech.