cuddle
part of speech
verb (cuddle, cuddles, cuddled, cuddling); noun (a cuddle, cuddles)
meaning for a pupil
1) To cuddle someone is to hold them close in your arms to show love or to comfort them. tree →
2) A cuddle is a long, warm hug. tree →
3) To cuddle up is to lie or sit close to someone to be warm and comfortable. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday family life parents cuddle babies and children cuddle pets and teddies. In PSHE and body safety lessons pupils learn that cuddles should feel safe, and that you can say no to a cuddle you do not want, even from family. Phrases: give a cuddle, cuddle up, cuddly toy, have a cuddle.
examples
- Mum gave me a big cuddle. tree →
- The baby likes to cuddle her teddy. tree →
- We cuddled up on the sofa to watch a film. tree →
- The puppy loves cuddles. tree →
- Can I have a cuddle? tree →
- My cuddly toy is a rabbit. tree →
- It's OK to say «no thank you» to a cuddle. tree →
- He was able to sit up in bed and look at picture-books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. tree →
note
Regular verb (cuddled). A cuddle is longer and softer than a hug. «Cuddly» means soft and nice to cuddle. Your body belongs to you: you can always say no to a cuddle.
In the corpora
- Children in Ohio cuddled and kissed backyard chickens; several got Salmonella and were sick for days.
- Cuddling a toy, calm music or reading helps the body relax after a bad dream.
- Chloe chases her for cuddles, and Duchess hides under the bed for a whole day.
- Chasing a pet or grabbing it for cuddles makes it trust you less; sitting still and letting it come to you works better.
- Some animals show they like you in small ways, like sitting on your things, rather than with big cuddles.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cuddle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.