brace
IPA: brˈeɪs
noun
- (obsolete) Armor for the arm; vambrace.
- (obsolete) 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.
- (typography) 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.
- (nautical) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
- (Britain, Cornwall, mining) The mouth of a shaft.
- (Britain, chiefly in the plural) Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.
- (plural in North America, singular or plural in the UK) A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite.
- (soccer) Two goals scored by one player in a game.
- A surname from Old French.
verb
- (transitive, intransitive) To prepare for something bad, such as an impact or blow.
- To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly.
- (nautical) 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.
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Examples of "brace" in Sentences
- A plate covers the bottom of the brace.
- The term brace, which imports a pair, was employed.
- The brace is then nailed to the plates and the studs.
- Going back to a brace is a step backward; digression.
- A brace for converting an extension ladder into a stepladder.
- The purpose of the braces are help support the necessary loading.
- The braces are on the gabled sides of roofs, supporting the wide eaves.
- Hanging on the brace was a large copper kettle, its sides blackened with soot.
- The difference is that the rafter represents the sides, while the brace is the hypotenuse.
- Second course, what they're calling a brace of American birds, and the third and final course, apple sponge cake.
- But the point I refer to is this: the old instrument, the trepan, had a handle like a wimble, what we call a brace or bit-stock.
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