brace

American  

[brays] / breɪs /

noun

• braces
  plural

1. something that holds parts together or in place, as a clasp or clamp.

   Synonyms:

   vise

2. anything that imparts rigidity or steadiness.

3. Building Trades. a piece of timber, metal, etc., for supporting or positioning another piece or portion of a framework.

   Synonyms:

   strut, prop, stay

4. Orthodontics. Usually braces an appliance made of metal or plastic, worn on the surface of the teeth to straighten them through gradual pressure: The patient needed a brace only on the upper teeth.

   I wore braces for several years.

   The patient needed a brace only on the upper teeth.

5. Medicine/Medical. an appliance or compression sleeve for supporting a weak joint or joints.

6. Printing. curly bracket.

7. Music. connected staves one below the other, such as for different voices or instruments, or for left and right hand in keyboard music.

8. Chiefly British. braces suspenders.

9. a pair; couple.

   The hunter had a brace of hounds at his side.

10. Also called bitbrace, bitstock. Machinery. a device for holding and turning a bit for boring or drilling.

11. Music. leather loops sliding upon the tightening cords of a drum to change their tension and the drum's pitch.

12. Nautical. (on a square-rigged ship) a rope by which a yard is swung about and secured horizontally.

13. a protective band covering the wrist or lower part of the arm, especially one worn in archery to protect the bow hand from the snap of the bowstring.

14. Military. a position of attention with exaggeratedly stiff posture.

---

verb (used with object)

• braces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• braced,
  past participle,  past
• bracing
  present participle

1. to furnish, fasten, or strengthen with or as if with a brace.

   Synonyms:

   prop, fortify, support

2. to fix firmly; make steady; secure against pressure or impact.

   He braces himself when the ship rolls. Brace yourself for some bad news.

3. to make tight; increase the tension of.

   Synonyms:

   tense, tauten

4. to act as a stimulant to.

   Synonyms:

   fortify

5. Nautical. to swing or turn around (the yards of a ship) by means of the braces.

6. Military. to order (a subordinate) to assume and maintain a position of attention with exaggeratedly stiff posture.

verb (used without object)

• braces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• braced,
  past participle,  past
• bracing
  present participle

1. Military. to assume a position of attention with exaggeratedly stiff posture.

verb phrase

1. brace in to brace (the yards of a square-rigged vessel) more nearly athwartships, as for running free.

idioms

1. brace up, to summon up one's courage; become resolute.

   She choked back her tears and braced up.

brace British  

/ breɪs /

noun

1. In full: hand brace. a hand tool for drilling holes, with a socket to hold the drill at one end and a cranked handle by which the tool can be turned See also brace and bit

2. something that steadies, binds, or holds up another thing

3. a structural member, such as a beam or prop, used to stiffen a framework

4. a sliding loop, usually of leather, attached to the cords of a drum: used to change its tension

5. a pair; two, esp of game birds

   a brace of partridges

6. either of a pair of characters, { }, used for connecting lines of printing or writing or as a third sign of aggregation in complex mathematical or logical expressions that already contain parentheses and square brackets

7. Also called: accolade. a line or bracket connecting two or more staves of music

8. (often plural) an appliance of metal bands and wires that can be tightened to maintain steady pressure on the teeth for correcting uneven alignment

9. med any of various appliances for supporting the trunk, a limb, or teeth

10. another word for bracer 2

11. (in square-rigged sailing ships) a rope that controls the movement of a yard and thus the position of a sail

12. See braces

---

verb

1. to provide, strengthen, or fit with a brace

2. to steady or prepare (oneself or something) as before an impact

3. (also intr) to stimulate; freshen; invigorate

   sea air is bracing

4. to control the horizontal movement of (the yards of a square-rigged sailing ship)

Synonym Usage

See pair.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underbrace
  noun
• overbrace
  verb (used with object)
• rebrace
  verb (used with object)
• underbrace
  verb (used with object)
• well-braced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• braces
  plural

Participles

• bracing
  present
• braced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brace
  simple
• braces
  simple
• have braced
  perfect
• has braced
  perfect
• am bracing
  progressive
• are bracing
  progressive
• is bracing
  progressive
• have been bracing
  perfect progressive
• has been bracing
  perfect progressive

Past

• braced
  simple
• had braced
  perfect
• was bracing
  progressive
• were bracing
  progressive
• had been bracing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brace
  simple
• will have braced
  perfect
• will be bracing
  progressive
• will have been bracing
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of brace

First recorded in 1300–50; (for the noun) Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French: “pair of arms,” from Latin brā(c)chia plural (taken as feminine singular) of brā(c)chium “arm” (from Greek; see brachium); (for the verb) in part Middle English bracen (from Anglo-French bracier, derivative of brace; cf. embrace ¹), in part derivative of the noun

---

Explanation

A brace is a support that helps to steady or strengthen, and to brace is to prepare for something hard. So brace yourself for that impromptu meeting with your boss if you haven't been performing well. We all know the braces that straighten teeth and keep injured knees in line. But in verb form, brace means to bolster or steady. “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather,” said John Ruskin, the English writer and cultural critic. He means the wind supports us with its uplifting powers — although those living in tornado country might disagree.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brace braces braced bracing

She wore a black back brace and her legs were cuffed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Even before the storm made landfall, hundreds of thousands were without power in the country's southeast - and Alabama, Florida and Georgia have issued states of emergency as they brace for heavy rains and flooding.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Analysts at Citi forecast what’s next as millions brace for their first major hurricane in years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Dustin Reid, chief fixed-income strategist at Mackenzie Investments, said the calm in bonds now appears to be breaking down as traders brace for potentially more aggressive Fed rate hikes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

They’re these foot brace things that sit on the track and let you be in a ready position to start charging down your lane.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico have begun curbing production and evacuating personnel from offshore facilities as the region braces for Tropical Storm Isaias.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Knee braces ranked highly across several important measures.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

“Modeling was performing, but I had braces and noticed I was chubbier than everybody else, creating new anxieties. To be 11, 12, and 13 just sucked.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

Their meeting comes as the 27-member European Union braces for tough negotiations to agree a joint budget for the seven-year stretch 2028-34.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

He was given a medical deferment for the braces he wore on his teeth, and told to report back in a year.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

In a letter sent to members last week, the MCC chair Mark Nicholas warned "we should all be braced for the scheduling challenges" their pitch plans will bring.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Investors had already braced for the worst, as the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

Newport Beach was one of several coastal communities to see flooding Friday as residents braced for Tropical Storm Rachel, which is expected to cause more issues over the weekend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

More than 40 million people in the northeastern United States braced Friday for heavy rain and strong winds as an unusually powerful storm for the season was forecast to crash into the region.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

He braced himself for Chess to push him and Emma off the bed.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

One answer arrived this year in the form of “Music, Fashion, Film,” Charli XCX’s bracing follow-up to 2024’s Grammy-winning “Brat.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

Rebecca Onion declares that the miniseries is a bracing delight, akin to “kissing a dead fish and taking a shot”—and that’s a compliment!

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

Because the options market is apparently bracing for an outbreak of volatility beginning later this month.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Stability: Because fishing often keeps both hands busy, fisherfolk spend a lot of energy steadying and bracing themselves with their legs, hands-free.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

In his mind, Inatimi became perfect, brave and bracing, made intrepid and sensitive by loss.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• fortify
• gird
• prepare
• ready

---