Rant making one earn a hug, possibly? (8)
I believe the answer is:
harangue
'rant' is the definition.
('harangue' can be a synonym of 'rant')
'one earn a hug possibly?' is the wordplay.
'possibly?' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'possibly' mean this).
'earn'+'a'+'hug'='earnahug'
'earnahug' is an anagram of 'HARANGUE'.
'making' is the link.
(Other definitions for harangue that I've seen before include "A lengthy speech or scolding" , "Lecture aggressively" , "Declamation - lecture" , "Highly charged speech" , "Speak loudly (at)" .)