ETYM Cf.Old Fren. braguette codpiece, French brayette, Spanish bragueta, also a projecting mold in architecture; dim. fromL. bracae breeches; cf. also, Old Fren. bracon beam, prop, support; of unknown origin. Related to Breeches.
1. A category falling within certain defined limits.
2. An L-shaped support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf).
3. Either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material; SYN. square bracket.
A device (used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together.
1. A device designed to bind or constrict or to press two or more parts together so as to hold them firmly
2. Any of various instruments or appliances having parts brought together for holding or compressing something
ETYM New Lat., from Greek, to put in beside, insert; para beside + en in + tithenai, place. Related to Para-, En-, 2, and Thesis.
(Irregular plural: parentheses).
Either of two punctuation marks used to enclose textual material.
Word, statement, etc., inserted incidentally into sentence; round bracket (), containing such word, etc.
The practice in written or printed language of placing certain statements between a pair of such punctuation marks as commas, dashes, and brackets, to show that they are asides or interruptions in the normal flow of text.
Parenthetical commas are the gentlest device (“He did it, so he said, in order to help us”); parenthetical dashes are the most emphatic and dramatic (“He did it—so he said—in order to help us”), and brackets the most clinical (as this sentence demonstrates). Round brackets are used for everyday parentheses, square brackets for editorial asides and notes in another person’s text and for the addition of missing material supplied by the editor. In spoken language these parenthetical services are provided by means of pauses, intonation, and expression, and often have an attitudinal quality (sarcasm, irony, humor), which can usually be inferred from the style and context of a written or printed sentence.
1. A wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface; SYN. nog.
2. Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.; SYN. pin.
3. A pin which may be turned to regulate the pitch of the strings of a stringed instrument.
4. A prosthesis that replaces a missing leg; SYN. wooden leg, leg, pegleg.
5. A device attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing; SYN. pin, thole, tholepin, rowlock, oarlock.
ETYM Cf.Old Fren. braguette codpiece, French brayette, Spanish bragueta, also a projecting mold in architecture; dim. fromL. bracae breeches; cf. also, Old Fren. bracon beam, prop, support; of unknown origin. Related to Breeches.
1. A category falling within certain defined limits.
2. An L-shaped support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf).
3. Either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material; SYN. square bracket.
ETYM Old Fren. brace, brasse, the two arms, embrace, fathom, French brasse fathom, from Latin bracchia the arms (stretched out), pl. of bracchium arm.
1. A structural member used to stiffen a framework; SYN. bracing.
2. A support that steadies or strengthens something else.
3. An appliance that corrects dental irregularities; SYN. braces.
4. Either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material.
5. Rope on a square-rigged ship that is used to swing a yard about and secure it.
6. The stock of a tool used for turning a drilling bit; SYN. bitstock.
7. Straps that hold trousers up (usually used in the plural); SYN. suspender, gallus.