Hug before something stressful starts (5)
I believe the answer is:
press
'hug' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'before something stressful starts' is the wordplay.
'before' becomes 'pre' (prefix meaning 'before').
'starts' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'something stressful' is 'ss'.
'pre'+'ss'='PRESS'
(Other definitions for press that I've seen before include "Exert force on (something)" , "Iron - clasp - newspapers" , "publicity" , "Ram" , "somewhere to keep clothes" .)