Something all-embracing includes everyone or everything. It does not leave a person or a part sitting outside. People use it for ideas, plans, love, or theories that try to take in the whole picture — an all-embracing policy, an all-embracing view of life. The hugging picture is still in the word, though actually we almost never mean arms around people; we mean a mind or a plan that holds the lot. It sounds a little formal, more at home in writing, speeches, and careful talk than in a quick chat. In everyday speech people more often say it covers everything, or it includes everyone. Speakers sometimes stretch it for praise: a teacher with an all-embracing kindness. That sounds warm, but it can also feel too tidy — real life rarely fits in one hug.