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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

brace       (brās)  Pronunciation Key  (click for larger image in new window) n.   A device that holds or fastens two or more parts together or in place; a clamp. A device, such as a supporting beam in a building or a connecting wire or rope, that steadies or holds something else erect. braces Chiefly British Suspenders. An orthopedic appliance used to support, align, or hold a bodily part in the correct position. A dental appliance constructed of bands and wires that is fixed to the teeth to correct irregular alignment. Often used in the plural. An extremely stiff, erect posture. A cause or source of renewed physical or spiritual vigor. A protective pad strapped to the bow arm of an archer. Nautical A rope by which a yard is swung and secured on a square-rigged ship. A cranklike handle with an adjustable aperture at one end for securing and turning a bit. Music A leather loop that slides to change the tension on the cord of a drum. Music A vertical line, usually accompanied by the symbol {, connecting two or more staffs. A set of staffs connected in this way. A symbol, { or }, enclosing two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered as a unit. 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. pl. brace A pair of like things: three brace of partridges. v.   braced, brac·ing, brac·es v.   tr. To furnish with a brace. To support or hold steady with or as if with a brace; reinforce. To prepare or position so as to be ready for impact or danger: Union members braced themselves for a confrontation with management. To confront with questions or requests. To increase the tension of. To invigorate; stimulate: "The freshness of the September morning inspired and braced him" (Thomas Hardy). Nautical To turn (the yards of a ship) by the braces. v.   intr. To get ready; make preparations. Phrasal Verb(s): brace up To summon one's strength or endurance. [Middle English, from Old French, the two arms, from Vulgar Latin *bracia, from Latin brācchia, pl. of brācchium, 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 - Cite This Source - Share This

brack·et       (brāk'ĭt)  Pronunciation Key  n.   A simple rigid structure in the shape of an L, one arm of which is fixed to a vertical surface, the other projecting horizontally to support a shelf or other weight. A small shelf or shelves supported by such structures. A square bracket. An angle bracket. Mathematics See brace. The distance between two impacting shells, the first aimed beyond a target and the second aimed short of it, used to determine the range for artillery fire. The shells fired in such a manner. Architecture A decorative or weight-bearing structural unit, two sides of which form a right angle with one arm flush against a wall and the other flush beneath a projecting surface, such as eaves or a bay window. A wall-anchored fixture for gas or electricity. A square bracket. An angle bracket. Mathematics See brace. The distance between two impacting shells, the first aimed beyond a target and the second aimed short of it, used to determine the range for artillery fire. The shells fired in such a manner. Chiefly British One of a pair of parentheses. A classification or grouping, especially within a sequence of numbers or grades, as a category of incomes sharing the same tax rate. The distance between two impacting shells, the first aimed beyond a target and the second aimed short of it, used to determine the range for artillery fire. The shells fired in such a manner. tr.v.   brack·et·ed, brack·et·ing, brack·ets To furnish or support with a bracket or brackets. To place within or as if within brackets. To classify or group together. To include or exclude by establishing specific boundaries. To fire beyond and short of (a target) in order to determine artillery range. [Possibly French braguette, codpiece, diminutive of brague, breeches, from Old Provençal braga, from Latin brācae, from Gaulish brāca, leg covering.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bracket 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

bracket
noun
1.	a category falling within certain defined limits
2.	either of two punctuation marks ('<' or '>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material
3.	either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material
4.	a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)
verb
1.	support with brackets; "bracket bookshelves"
2.	place into brackets; "Please bracket this remark"
3.	classify or group

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

bracket character
(Or square bracket) A left bracket or right bracket.
Often used loosely for parentheses, square brackets, braces, angle brackets, or any other kind of unequal paired delimiters.
(1996-09-08)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bracket

Brack"et\, n. [Cf.OF. braguette codpiece, F. brayette, Sp. bragueta, also a projecting mold in architecture; dim. fr.L. bracae breeches; cf. also, OF. bracon beam, prop, support; of unknown origin. Cf. Breeches.]

1. (Arch.) An architectural member, plain or ornamental, projecting from a wall or pier, to support weight falling outside of the same; also, a decorative feature seeming to discharge such an office.

Note: This is the more general word. See Brace, Cantalever, Console, Corbel, Strut.

2. (Engin. & Mech.) A piece or combination of pieces, usually triangular in general shape, projecting from, or fastened to, a wall, or other surface, to support heavy bodies or to strengthen angles.

3. (Naut.) A shot, crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.

4. (Mil.) The cheek or side of an ordnance carriage.

5. (Print.) One of two characters [], used to inclose a reference, explanation, or note, or a part to be excluded from a sentence, to indicate an interpolation, to rectify a mistake, or to supply an omission, and for certain other purposes; -- called also crotchet.

6. A gas fixture or lamp holder projecting from the face of a wall, column, or the like.

Bracket light, a gas fixture or a lamp attached to a wall, column, etc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bracket

Brack"et\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bracketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bracketing] To place within brackets; to connect by brackets; to furnish with brackets.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bracket

Crotch"et\ (kr?ch"?t; 224), n. [F. crochet, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source as croc hook. See Crook, and cf. Crochet, Crocket, Crosier.]

1. A forked support; a crotch.

The crotchets of their cot in columns rise. --Dryden.

2. (Mus.) A time note, with a stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note.

3. (Fort.) An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.

4. (Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.

5. (Print.) A bracket. See Bracket.

6. (Med.) An instrument of a hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a fetus. --Dunglison.

7. A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit.

He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by crotchets that he could never explain to any rational man. --De Quincey.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bracket

Brack"et\, n. (Gunnery) A figure determined by firing a projectile beyond a target and another short of it, as a basis for ascertaining the proper elevation of the piece; -- only used in the phrase, to establish a bracket. After the bracket is established shots are fired with intermediate elevations until the exact range is obtained. In the United States navy it is called fork.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bracket

bracket: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary