bracket

American  

[brak-it] / ˈbræk ɪt /

noun

• brackets
  plural

1. a support, as of metal or wood, projecting from a wall or the like to hold or bear the weight of a shelf, part of a cornice, etc.

2. a shelf or shelves so supported.

3. a square bracket or a curly bracket.

4. Mathematics.

   1. brackets, parentheses of various forms indicating that the enclosed quantity is to be treated as a unit.

   2. (loosely) vinculum.

   3. Informal. an expression or formula between a pair of brackets.

5. a grouping of people based on the amount of their income.

   the low-income bracket.

6. a class; grouping; classification.

   She travels in a different social bracket.

7. Sports. a diagram that tracks the process of elimination among sequentially paired opponents in a tournament.

8. Architecture.

   1. any horizontally projecting support for an overhanging weight, as a corbel, cantilever, or console.

   2. any of a series of fancifully shaped false consoles beneath an ornamental cornice.

9. (on a staircase) an ornamental piece filling the angle between a riser and its tread.

10. Shipbuilding.

    1. a flat plate, usually triangular with a flange on one edge, used to unite and reinforce the junction between two flat members or surfaces meeting at an angle.

    2. any member for reinforcing the angle between two members or surfaces.

11. a projecting fixture for gas or electricity.

12. Gunnery. range or elevation producing both shorts and overs on a target.

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verb (used with object)

• brackets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bracketed,
  past participle,  past
• bracketing
  present participle

1. to furnish with or support by a bracket or brackets.

2. to place within brackets; couple with a brace.

3. to associate, mention, or class together.

   Gossip columnists often bracket them together, so a wedding may be imminent.

4. Gunnery. to place (shots) both beyond and short of a target.

5. Photography. to take (additional shots) at exposure levels above and below the estimated correct exposure.

bracket British  

/ ˈbrækɪt /

noun

1. an L-shaped or other support fixed to a wall to hold a shelf, etc

2. one or more wall shelves carried on brackets

3. architect a support projecting from the side of a wall or other structure See also corbel ancon console 2

4. Also called: square bracket. either of a pair of characters, [ ], used to enclose a section of writing or printing to separate it from the main text

5. a general name for parenthesis square bracket brace

6. a group or category falling within or between certain defined limits

   the lower income bracket

7. the distance between two preliminary shots of artillery fire in range-finding

8. a skating figure consisting of two arcs meeting at a point, tracing the shape ⋎

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verb

1. to fix or support by means of a bracket or brackets

2. to put (written or printed matter) in brackets, esp as being irrelevant, spurious, or bearing a separate relationship of some kind to the rest of the text

3. to couple or join (two lines of text, etc) with a brace

4. (often foll by with) to group or class together

   to bracket Marx with the philosophers

5. to adjust (artillery fire) until the target is hit

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unbracketed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brackets
  plural

Participles

• bracketing
  present
• bracketed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bracket
  simple
• brackets
  simple
• have bracketed
  perfect
• has bracketed
  perfect
• am bracketing
  progressive
• are bracketing
  progressive
• is bracketing
  progressive
• have been bracketing
  perfect progressive
• has been bracketing
  perfect progressive

Past

• bracketed
  simple
• had bracketed
  perfect
• was bracketing
  progressive
• were bracketing
  progressive
• had been bracketing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bracket
  simple
• will have bracketed
  perfect
• will be bracketing
  progressive
• will have been bracketing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of bracket

First recorded in 1570–80; earlier brag(g)et, from Middle French braguette “codpiece,” diminutive of Old Provençal braga “breeches” ( see brogue ² ( def. ))

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Explanation

A bracket is a punctuation mark that's used to set a word or phrase aside from the rest of a sentence. Sometimes dates or other numbers in a sentence are enclosed by brackets. When you quote someone in a piece of formal writing, you can use brackets around an ellipsis, or three dots, to show you've omitted some of the actual quote: "He exclaimed, 'What a surprise to see you here [...] looking so cheerful!'" Another kind of bracket is the L-shaped support that holds a shelf against a wall, often using screws. This is the original meaning of bracket — the punctuation mark was named for the way it resembles the carpentry support.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bracket brackets bracketed bracketing

At Eugene Henaff, one-third of meals served fall into the lowest-income bracket, with families paying 20 or 50 cents and the Ile-de-France region covering the rest, the region said, noting that no subsidies were pending.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

After tearing Manchester City apart in large spells of their 4-2 Champions League victory on Wednesday, Paris St-Germain look well on track to join the latter bracket.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

The CrossWave’s trap is easily accessed through a hatch in the aft deck—or, it would have been, but for the large icebox strapped to the tubular mounting bracket.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Contribute to a Roth while you are in a low tax bracket.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Next in my bracket I had four-time Olympic medalist Olga Kharlan from Ukraine.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Income brackets rise with inflation, but last year the top 2% of taxpayers earned at least $371,000 for single filers and $743,000 for joint filers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ahead of the Bangkok talks, Cordano released an "aid to negotiations" -- a non-binding outline of a possible treaty, with brackets around the most contentious sections.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Instead, we used those states’ brackets for married couples at the bottom of the bracket for the highest Federal bracket for joint filers: $768,701.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

One thing all the income brackets have in common: “Everyone’s looking for value,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

I pull out a box of metal brackets, nuts and bolts, drill bits and nails—things that clank together as I set it down.

From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio

His grandfather is Rennie Stennett, a versatile player whose nine seasons with the Pirates were bracketed by World Series titles in his 1971 rookie season and 1979 finale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Bordighera is on the Italian Riviera, bracketed by the sea, with a beach and an exotic garden referenced by painter Claude Monet.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

The company’s guidance on adjusted earnings per share, which calls for $1.02 to $1.04, bracketed the consensus view.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 11, 2026

I’m less excited about the front end, bracketed by large and kind of goofy LED arrays at the edges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

Lady Tanda was bracketed by her daughters, placid dull Lollys and acid-tongued Falyse.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

For the full year, it sees earnings between $6.70 and $7.10 a share, easily above the $6.67 consensus, on revenue of $20.5 billion to $20.7 billion, bracketing the average analyst estimate.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

For the current quarter, Oracle guided for revenue growth between 19% to 21%, bracketing the 20% growth expectations implied by the FactSet consensus.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 10, 2026

He describes how he uses a technique called focus bracketing, where dozens of photos are taken.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

The Rev. Stephen Fields, a Jesuit priest and professor at Georgetown University, said that has to start with professors bracketing their political opinions more often.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023

Of all the Communist leaders deposed in the years bracketing the collapse of the Soviet Union, only Nicolae Ceaujescu met a violent death.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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