Crossword Genius

Raving loony in Ghent hugging American (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

enthusing

'raving' is the definition.
(rave can mean to enthuse or talk excitedly about)

'loony in ghent hugging american' is the wordplay.
'loony' indicates anagramming the letters.
'hugging' indicates putting letters inside.
'american' becomes 'us' (abbreviation for United States).
'in'+'ghent'='inghent'
'inghent' is an anagram of 'enthing'.
'enthing' going around 'us' is 'ENTHUSING'.

(Another definition for enthusing that I've seen is " Being full of praise for hugest inn".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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