molding to their parents' bodies

[keannu]

What does "mold" mean here? The dictionary only has "make a cast or form a personality" as a verb, but the translation goes "hugging into...".

is24
ex)Psychologists studying infant attachment have observed the way one-year-olds react to being taken care of by unfamiliar adults, to their parents' leaving, and to their reunions. They have found that babies who feel secure may be upset when their parents return, but they allow themselves to be comforted, molding to their parents' bodies as they are held and talked to...

 

[SoothingDave]

The idea is that they do not resist the hug in any way, in fact they go deeply into the hug. So "hugging into" is a reasonable translation in this case.

 

[keannu]

Okay, thanks. What literal meaning does it come from? "mold" as "to shape or form in or on a mold."?
If I can know the original meaning, I can infer the meaning better.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes. The baby's body forms into the shape of the parent's body as he is hugged.