The first to embrace a hooligan (4)
I believe the answer is:
thug
'a hooligan' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the first to embrace' is the wordplay.
'the first to' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'to').
'embrace' becomes 'hug' (synonyms).
't'+'hug'='THUG'
(Other definitions for thug that I've seen before include "Indian strangler - criminal" , "Burrowing crustacean" , "Bully" , "Hooligan" , "A vicious or brutal ruffian" .)