brace

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“
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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Definitions (85)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (25)

  1. noun A device that holds or fastens two or more parts together or in place; a clamp.
  2. noun A device, such as a supporting beam in a building or a connecting wire or rope, that steadies or holds something else erect.
  3. noun Chiefly British Suspenders.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (44)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • The expression is closed with the leftmost end brace, which is followed by an even number of consecutive braces, which means they are all escaped sequences. —  Latest Microsoft Blogs
  • And then -- brace yourselves -- the network has also said yes to —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • A number of excerpts are out there, including this one in the Financial Times in which Chen says China is delaying unification, and that he is -- brace yourself —  The View from Taiwan
  • But Luis Felipe Scolari's side eventually saw off the Tractor Boys thanks to a Michael Ballack brace, and Frank Lampard's free-kick. —  ManUtd.com News RSS
  • He was taken from the floor on a stretcher with his neck in a brace, and was hospitalized overnight. —  The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
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This word has been looked up 176 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

strap ·  pair ·  collar ·  girder ·  belt ·  hinge ·  cuff ·  buckle ·  tie ·  hook ·  breech ·  bolt

Used in the same contextWord Family

brace:   braces ·  bracing ·  braced
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English brace, from Old French brace, brase, brasse, brache, the two arms extended, an armful, a fathom, pair, French brasse = Provencal brassa = Spanish braza = Portuguese braça, a fathom, from Latin brachia, plural of brachium, bracchium, arm, prob. from Greek βραχίων, arm; cf. Irish and Gaelic brac = Welsh braich = Breton breach, the arm. From the L. singular bracchium comes Old French bras, braz, French bras = Spanish brazo = Portuguese braço = Italian braccio, arm. Hence bracelet and embrace.
  2. from Middle English bracen, brace, embrace, from Old French bracer, bracier, brasser, from brace, embrace, = Provencal brassar = Italian bracciare, brace; from the noun.
  3. Origin obscure.
 

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/breɪs/
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