Brace
[breɪs] or [bres]
Definition
(noun.) a structural member used to stiffen a framework.
(noun.) a carpenter's tool having a crank handle for turning and a socket to hold a bit for boring.
(noun.) an appliance that corrects dental irregularities.
(noun.) a support that steadies or strengthens something else; 'he wore a brace on his knee'.
(noun.) elastic straps that hold trousers up (usually used in the plural).
(noun.) a rope on a square-rigged ship that is used to swing a yard about and secure it.
(noun.) either of two punctuation marks ({ or }) used to enclose textual material.
(verb.) support by bracing.
(verb.) support or hold steady and make steadfast, with or as if with a brace; 'brace your elbows while working on the potter's wheel'.
(verb.) prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult.
Edited by Hamilton--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.
(n.) A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension, as a cord on the side of a drum.
(n.) The state of being braced or tight; tension.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A vertical curved line connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be taken together; thus, boll, bowl; or, in music, used to connect staves.
(n.) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
(n.) A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.
(n.) A pair; a couple; as, a brace of ducks; now rarely applied to persons, except familiarly or with some contempt.
(n.) Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.
(n.) Harness; warlike preparation.
(n.) Armor for the arm; vantbrace.
(n.) The mouth of a shaft.
(v. t.) To furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam in a building.
(v. t.) To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen; as, to brace the nerves.
(v. t.) To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly.
(v. t.) To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly; as, he braced himself against the crowd.
(v. t.) To move around by means of braces; as, to brace the yards.
(v. i.) To get tone or vigor; to rouse one's energies; -- with up.
Checker: Neil
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Tighten, draw tight, make tense, strain up.[2]. Strengthen, fortify, support, prop, give strength to.
n. [1]. Couple, pair.[2]. Prop, support, stay, shore, strut.[3]. Bit-stock.
Inputed by Byron
Definition
n. anything that draws together and holds tightly: a bandage: a pair or couple: an instrument of wood or iron used by carpenters and metal-workers for turning boring tools: in printing a mark connecting two or more words or lines (}): (pl.) straps for supporting the trousers: ropes for squaring or traversing horizontally the yards of a ship.—v.t. to tighten or strengthen to give firmness to.—adj. Brac′ing giving strength or tone.
v.t. (Spens.) to embrace encompass.
Typist: Lycurgus
Unserious Contents or Definition
Security for the trousers.
Editor: Woodrow
Examples
- But you must give me a brace of pistols. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I stood up, took off the breeches and pulled off the knee-brace. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- The play--a mere trifle--ran chiefly on the efforts of a brace of rivals to gain the hand of a fair coquette. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- There were a couple of brace of cold woodcock, a pheasant, a p?té de foie gras pie with a group of ancient and cobwebby bottles. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The clouds on her mother's brow had cleared off under the propitious influence of a brace of carp, most opportunely presented by a neighbour. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- I was sitting to one side grasping the angle brace, so no harm was done. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- At first they mounted them upon a wooden frame and rested one end on the shoulder for a brace. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The weight of old Sabor was immense, and when she braced her huge paws nothing less than Tantor, the elephant, himself, could have budged her. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- When I came to I found that it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- This beam is braced with iron, and has segmental ends with a piston at one end, and a balance weight at the other. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- This was an arrangement of timbers crossing the ribs on the inside of the ship at angles of about 45°, and braced by diagonals and struts. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The outer shell of the tunnel shield is composed of two- or three-ply boiler plates, and the interior is braced with a system of steel girders. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- We waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced himself to tell his story. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- She thought it humiliating to see a man dressing: the ridiculous shirt, the ridiculous trousers and braces. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He wore silk socks, and studs of fine workmanship, and silk underclothing, and silk braces. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- They were made of cloth, arched over ribs to imitate the curved surfaces of bird’s wings, and were fastened to two rectangular wooden frames, fixed one above the other by braces of wood and wire. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- When the frame has been bolted to the legs, stretchers or braces are placed within. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The coil and disks are supported by the strong and well-insulated rod _R_, which rests upon braces, but which nevertheless rotates freely with disks and coil. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The back and sides of the pit are formed by the kick-backs, braces and cushion. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In 1810 Sir Robert Seppings, surveyor of the English navy, devised and introduced the system of diagonal bracing. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The air blowing on the brow was fresh, and sweet, and bracing. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- That evening found us in the cold, bracing atmosphere of the Peak country, in which Dr. Huxtable's famous school is situated. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- No bracing critical atmosphere plays about his mind: there are no cleansing doubts and fruitful alternatives. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- He had held the bull's tail to pull him away from a fallen man, bracing hard and pulling and twisting. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- He seemed to bring a whiff of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as he entered. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The walls of stately date-palms that fenced the gardens and bordered the way, threw their shadows down and made the air cool and bracing. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Editor: Robert