I. brack ‧ et 1 /ˈbrækət, ˈbrækɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: braguette 'codpiece' , from brague 'trousers' , from Latin braca ; because of the way a bracket (3) sticks out ]
1 . ( also round bracket ) [usually plural] British English one of the pair of signs put around words to show extra information SYN parenthesis American English
in brackets
Last year’s sales figures are given in brackets.
⇨ ↑ angle brackets , ↑ square bracket , ↑ punctuation mark
2 . income/tax/age etc bracket a particular income, tax etc range:
the highest tax bracket
families in lower income brackets
3 . a piece of metal, wood, or plastic, often in the shape of the letter L, fixed to a wall to support something such as a shelf
II. bracket 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive usually passive]
1 . to consider two or more people or things as being similar or the same
bracket somebody together
Women and minors were bracketed together for the legislation.
bracket somebody/something with somebody/something
Arizona has been bracketed with Iowa in the tournament.
2 . to put brackets around a written word, piece of information etc:
Debit amounts are bracketed.