BRACE

noun the mouth of a shaft.

2. brace ·noun harness; warlike preparation.

3. brace ·noun armor for the arm; vantbrace.

4. brace ·vt to bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly.

5. brace ·noun the state of being braced or tight; tension.

6. brace ·noun straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.

7. brace ·vi to get tone or vigor; to rouse one's energies;

— with up.

8. brace ·vt to move around by means of braces; as, to brace the yards.

9. brace ·noun that which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.

10. brace ·noun a curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, ·etc.; a bitstock.

11. brace ·noun a cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension, as a cord on the side of a drum.

12. brace ·vt to place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly; as, he braced himself against the crowd.

13. brace ·noun a pair; a couple; as, a brace of ducks; now rarely applied to persons, except familiarly or with some contempt.

14. brace ·noun a rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.

15. brace ·vt to furnish with braces; to support; to prop; as, to brace a beam in a building.

xvi. brace ·noun a vertical curved line connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be taken together; thus, boll, bowl; or, in music, used to connect staves.

xvii. brace ·vt to draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen; as, to brace the nerves.

xviii. brace ·noun a piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. it may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. a boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.