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Embrace vs Conform - What's the difference?

embrace | conform |

As verbs the difference between embrace and conform

is that embrace is to clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug while conform is (intransitive|of persons|often followed by to) to act in accordance with expectations; to behave in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure.

As a noun embrace

is hug (noun); putting arms around someone.

embrace

English

Alternative forms

* imbrace (obsolete)

Verb

(embrac)
  • To clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, / That he shall shrink under my courtesy.
  • * Bible, Acts xx. 1
  • Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them.
  • (obsolete) To cling to; to cherish; to love.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • To seize eagerly, or with alacrity; to accept with cordiality; to welcome.
  • I wholeheartedly embrace the new legislation.
  • * Shakespeare
  • You embrace the occasion.
  • * John Locke
  • What is there that he may not embrace for truth?
  • To accept; to undergo; to submit to.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I embrace this fortune patiently.
  • To encircle; to encompass; to enclose.
  • * Dryden
  • Not that my song, in such a scanty space, / So large a subject fully can embrace .
  • * Denham
  • Low at his feet a spacious plain is placed, / Between the mountain and the stream embraced .
  • To enfold, to include (ideas, principles, etc.); to encompass.
  • Natural philosophy embraces many sciences.
  • To fasten on, as armour.
  • (Spenser)
  • (legal) To attempt to influence (a jury, court, etc.) corruptly.
  • (Blackstone)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Hug (noun); putting arms around someone.
  • *
  • *:a delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ "Phil!  You!   Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow!" recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.
  • (metaphorical) Enfolding, including.
  • conform

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (intransitive, of persons, often followed by to) To act in accordance with expectations; to behave in the manner of others, especially as a result of social pressure.
  • * 1822 , , Peveril of the Peak , ch. 1:
  • [H]e had a dispensation for conforming in outward observances to the Protestant faith.
  • * 1839 , , The Voyage of the Beagle , ch. 4:
  • [B]y conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unbounded popularity in the country.
  • To be in accordance with a set of specifications or regulations, or with a policy or guideline.
  • * 1919 , , The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit , ch. 11:
  • In height and breadth it conformed to the prescribed measurements laid down by the rules of the contest.
  • * 2006 22 Dec., " Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award ," New York Times (retrieved 7 June 2011):
  • A judge in a Texas widow’s lawsuit over the Merck drug Vioxx reduced a $32 million jury award to about $7.75 million on Thursday so that it conformed to state law.
  • To make similar in form or nature; to make suitable for a purpose; to adapt.
  • * , "Vanbrugh's House" in The Poems of Jonathan Swift (1910 edition):
  • There is a worm by Phoebus bred,
    By leaves of mulberry is fed,
    Which unprovided where to dwell,
    Conforms itself to weave a cell.
  • * 1836 , , Nature , ch. 6:
  • The sensual man conforms' thoughts to things; the poet ' conforms things to his thoughts.

    Synonyms

    * (act in accordance with expectations) acquiesce, comply, go along to get along, knuckle under, submit