braces

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brace

(brās)

1. A device that holds or fastens two or more parts together or in place; a clamp.

2. A device, such as a supporting beam in a building or a connecting wire or rope, that steadies or holds something else erect.

3. braces Chiefly British Suspenders.

4. An orthopedic appliance used to support, align, or hold a bodily part in the correct position.

5. often braces A dental appliance constructed of bands and wires that is fixed to the teeth to correct irregular alignment.

6. An extremely stiff, erect posture.

7. A cause or source of renewed physical or spiritual vigor.

8. A protective pad strapped to the bow arm of an archer.

9. Nautical A rope by which a yard is swung and secured on a square-rigged ship.

10. A cranklike handle with an adjustable aperture at one end for securing and turning a bit.

11. Music A leather loop that slides to change the tension on the cord of a drum.

12. Music

a. A vertical line, usually accompanied by the symbol {, connecting two or more staffs.

b. A set of staffs connected in this way.

13. A symbol, { or }, enclosing two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered as a unit.

14. Mathematics Either of a pair of symbols, { }, used to indicate aggregation or to clarify the grouping of quantities when parentheses and square brackets have already been used. Also called bracket.

15. pl. brace A pair of like things: three brace of partridges.

v. braced, brac·ing, brac·es

v.tr.

1. To furnish with a brace.

2. To support or hold steady with or as if with a brace; reinforce.

3. To prepare or position so as to be ready for impact or danger: Union members braced themselves for a confrontation with management.

4. To confront with questions or requests.

5. To increase the tension of.

6. To invigorate; stimulate: "The freshness of the September morning inspired and braced him" (Thomas Hardy).

7. Nautical To turn (the yards of a ship) by the braces.

v.intr.

To get ready; make preparations.

Phrasal Verb:

brace up

To summon one's strength or endurance.

[Middle English, from Old French, the two arms, from Vulgar Latin *bracia, from Latin bracchia, brāchia, pl. of bracchium, brāchium, arm, from Greek brakhīōn, upper arm; see mregh-u- in Indo-European roots. V., partly from Old French bracier, from Old French brace, the two arms.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

braces

(ˈbreɪsɪz)

pl n

(Clothing & Fashion) Brit a pair of straps worn over the shoulders by men for holding up the trousers. US and Canadian word: suspenders

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

square brackets, parentheses, braces - Square brackets were formerly called crotchets, round brackets are commonly called parentheses, and curly brackets are called braces; the punctuation called brackets derives from the bookshelf type, implying that, in writing, these marks "lift up" a section of a sentence.

braces

suspenders

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

braces - an appliance that corrects dental irregularities

orthodontic braces, brace

dental appliance - a device to repair teeth or replace missing teeth

Translations

حمالة البَنْطَلونحمّالة البنطلون

šle

seler

Hosenträger Zahnspange

σιδεράκια τιράντες

tirantes aparatos dentales esposas suspensores

henkselit

bretelles bretelle

naramenice

bilincsfogszabályzóhózentrógernadrágtartó

axlabönd

bretelle coppia paio parentesi graffe trapano

ズボン吊り

멜빵

bretels

bukseseler håndjern regulering tannregulering

szelki

suspensórios

подтяжки

tandställning

สายโยงกางเกง

pantolon askısı

dây đeo quần

吊带裤吊带

braces

[ˈbreɪsɪz] npl (British) → bretelles fpl

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

braces

pl (Brit) → Hosenträger pl; a pair of braces → (ein Paar) Hosenträger

braces

pl (Typ) → geschweifte Klammern pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

braces

[ˈbreɪsɪz] npl (Brit) → bretelle fpl

brace

(breis) noun

1. something that draws together and holds tightly. a brace to straighten teeth.

2. a pair usually of game-birds. a brace of pheasants.

verb

to make (often oneself) firm or steady. He braced himself for the struggle.

ˈbraces noun plural

(American suˈspenders) straps over the shoulders for holding up the trousers.

ˈbracing adjective

healthy. bracing sea air.

braces

→ حمالة البَنْطَلون šle seler Hosenträger τιράντες aparatos dentales, tirantes henkselit bretelles naramenice bretelle ズボン吊り 멜빵 bretels bukseseler szelki suspensórios подтяжки tandställning สายโยงกางเกง pantolon askısı dây đeo quần 吊带

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References in classic literature ?

A short stout man of about thirty, in white breeches and high boots and a batiste shirt that he had evidently only just put on, standing in that room, and his valet was buttoning on to the back of his breeches a new pair of handsome silk-embroidered braces that, for some reason, attracted Rostov's attention.

"Another petitioner," answered the man with the braces.

Rostov turned and was about to go, but the man in the braces stopped him.

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It's a natural, springy brace, an' beats iron braces stiff.

These here natural braces don't have to have a thing done.

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There's a neighbor named Brace Dunlap that's been wanting to marry their Benny for three months, and at last they told him point blank and once for all, he COULDN'T; so he has soured on them, and they're worried about it.

He's tall, and lazy, and sly, and sneaky, and ruther cowardly, too, but kind of good-natured, and wears long brown hair and no beard, and hasn't got a cent, and Brace boards him for nothing, and gives him his old clothes to wear, and despises him.

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Lilla made gallant efforts to brace her dwindling powers, but for a time unsuccessfully.

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I jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols ready primed for safety.

Hands," he said, "here are two of us with a brace of pistols each.

View in context

Her method, however, certainly involves forgetfulness for the individual; and to this, to the prospect of oblivion, poetry, too, may help to brace us, if, unlike so genial and cheerful a poet as Mr.

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"Why, that's"--and readers with heart- disease had better brace themselves up for a great shock--"that's SYLVIA JOY, the famous dancer!"