Hug

This article is about affection. For people named Hug, see Hug (surname).

300px

A hug is form of physical intimacy that generally involves closing or holding the arms around another person or group of persons. The hug is one of the most common human signs of love and affection, along with kissing.Kathleen Keating (1994). The Hug Therapy Book. Hazelden PES. ISBN 1568380941.  Unlike some other forms of physical intimacy, it is practiced publicly and privately without stigma in many nations, religions and cultures, within families, and also across age and gender lines.

Sometimes, hugs are a romantic exchange. A hug may also be exchanged as a sign of support and comfort. A hug can be a demonstration of emotional warmth, sometimes arising out of joy or happiness at meeting someone.

Brief in most cases, it is used to show many levels of affection. It is not particular to human beings alone, as there are many species of animals that engage in similar exchanges of warmth.

A prolonged hugging in a cozy, comfortable position is also called cuddling."Cuddle", WordNet® 3.0. Princeton University. Accessed 10 March 2008.

Spooning is a cuddling position, a kind of hugging when both the hugger and the hugged persons face the same direction, i.e., the front of one person is in contact with the back of the second one. Jim Grace, Lisa Goldblatt Grace (1998) "The Art of Spooning: A Cuddler\'s Handbook" ISBN 0762402709

See also

• Unconditional positive strokes.
• Bear hug
• Pound hug
• Hugs and Kisses
• Free Hugs Campaign
• Kiss
• Grope
• Tree hugging

References

This culture-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia