I. ˈbrakə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: earlier bragget, from Middle French braguette codpiece, diminutive of brague breeches, from Old Provençal braga, from Latin braca — more at braccae
1. : a simple or composite often carved or sculptured overhanging member that projects from a wall, pier, or other structure and is usually designed to support a vertical load or to strengthen an angle although it sometimes serves merely as a decorative feature only seeming to give support — compare brace , cantilever , console , corbel , cul-de-lampe , modillion , strut
2.
a.
(1) : a short crooked ship's timber resembling a knee and used as a support
(2) : a flat or flanged triangular ship's plate used especially for connecting frames and deck beams
b. : a piece of formed sheet steel to which the parts of a bicycle frame are fastened and in which the crank axle turns — called also bottom bracket, crank hanger, main bracket
3.
a. : a short wall shelf (as one with a single support)
b. : a fixture projecting from a wall or column (as for holding a lamp or candle)
c. : the fruiting body of a bracket fungus — called also conk ; compare polyporaceae
d. : the curved juncture between serif and vertical stem of a type character
4.
a. : one of a pair of marks [] used (1) in writing and printing to enclose matter inserted in a direct quotation, matter extraneous or incidental to context, or phonetic symbols or (2) in logic to indicate operands to be grouped and treated as a unit or (3) in mathematics to serve as signs of aggregation — called also square bracket ; see vinculum
b. : one of the pair of marks <> used to enclose a mutilated passage or the expansion of an abbreviation in a text or to enclose quotations or verbal illustrations in a reference work such as a dictionary — called also angle bracket, broken bracket, pointed bracket
c. : one of a pair of curves () — called also parenthesis, round bracket
d. : brace 6b
5.
a. : a pair of shots fired to determine the exact distance from gun to target:
(1) : a pair that falls short of and beyond the target — called also range bracket
(2) : a pair that falls to the right and left of the target — called also deflection bracket
b. : the distance often ascertained by instrument between the landings of two shots fired at a distant target and used to correct the aim of the gun
6. : a section of a continuously numbered or graded series
in the 24 to 55 age bracket
temperatures beyond the 65° to 85° bracket
especially : one of a graded series of income groups
have risen out of the under $2000 class … and climbed a bracket or two — F.L.Allen
7.
a. : a pairing of opponents in an elimination tournament
b. : either half of the draw of an elimination tournament
the upper or lower bracket
8. : a skating figure in which the skater executes from a simple curve a half turn, a cusp, and then another half turn back to the original curve
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1.
a. : to place within or as if within brackets
bracket a word
bracket the translation of a quotation in a foreign language
a face bracketed with tousled hair
b. : to set aside : separate out : eliminate from consideration
the transcendental view requires nature to be bracketed on principle — Marvin Farber
— often used with off
the danger of a positivistic approach to … history that brackets off moral questions — Times Literary Supplement
2. : to furnish, fasten, or decorate with brackets
an army trunk bracketed to its left running board — E.B.White
its highly stilted and bracketed arcading has distinct Moorish effects — American Guide Series: Tennessee
3.
a. : to put into the same class : associate
another historical tablet often bracketed with the Rosetta stone — Edward Clodd
b. : classify , group
bracket together cities of around the same population as if they were alike in all other respects — W.J.Reilly
4.
a. : to treat as a pair : deal with simultaneously
Hawaii and Alaska have been bracketed together in recent statehood legislation — Ernest Gruening
b. : to place beside for purposes of comparison : compare
teachers at West Point have bracketed this retreat with … the withdrawal by Napoleon from Moscow — R.L.Neuberger
5.
a. : to obtain a bracket on (as a target)
bracket an enemy convoy
b. : to establish the limits of (as a range of variation or a time interval)
if the guy was murdered in the time you bracket — H.V.Haddock
III. adjective
Etymology: modification of Irish Gaelic breac, from Old Irish brec
dialect : spotted , speckled
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
: american merganser