brace

Meanings

Noun

• Armor for the arm; vambrace.
• A measurement of length, originally representing a person's outstretched arms.
• A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.
• That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.
• A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension.
• A thong used to regulate the tension of a drum.
• The state of being braced or tight; tension.
• Harness; warlike preparation.
• A curved, pointed line, also known as "curly bracket": { or } connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be considered together, such as in {role, roll}; in music, used to connect staves.
• A pair, a couple; originally used of dogs, and later of animals generally (e.g., a brace of conies) and then other things, but rarely human persons. (The plural in this sense is unchanged.) In British use (as plural), this is a particularly common reference to game birds.
• A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.
• A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
• The mouth of a shaft.
• Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.
• A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite.
• Two goals scored by one player in a game.

Verb

• To prepare for something bad, such as an impact or blow.
• To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly.
• To swing round the yards of a square rigged ship, using braces, to present a more efficient sail surface to the direction of the wind.
• To stop someone for questioning, usually said of police.
• To confront with questions, demands or requests.
• To furnish with braces; to support; to prop.
• To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen.
• To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly.

Related

Similar words

• fathom

Origin

• From Middle English brace, from Old French brace ("arm"), from Latin bracchia, the nominative and accusative plural of bracchium.