To Cuddle Up

Idiom: to cuddle up; used as a verb

First Example:

After a stressful day at work, Janelle just wanted to go home and cuddle up with her boyfriend; lying on the couch with him while watching TV always made her feel better.

Meaning: To "cuddle up" with someone means to get physically close with someone, often a romantic partner. The expression suggests relaxing together comfortably under a blanket or other covers. In the example above, Janelle wants to cuddle up with her boyfriend on the couch and relax. However, this idiom isn't always romantic, as in the following example.

Second Example:

Other children made fun of five-year-old Tommy at school, and he was crying when he got home. When he got home, he cuddled up with him mom in her favorite chair and took a nap in her arms.

Here, Tommy had a bad day at school, but his mother made it better by cuddling up with him in a chair while he fell asleep. Notice that the preposition "with" is usually used with "cuddle up." In addition to not always being romantic, one doesn't even always "cuddle up" with another person, as in the following example:

Second Example:

Andy had a really bad cold, so instead of going to work, he grabbed his favorite blanket and cuddled up with a good book. He felt great the next morning.

In addition to cuddling up with people, we can also "cuddle up" with a book (we usually say "a good book" in this case), which means to get warm under a blanket and read. The expression "curl up" can be substituted in this last case (as in, "curl up with a good book").

This idiom is from LSI's book "Reading Horizons," which is used in the Level 6 Reading classes. For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/