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bracer1

[brey-ser]
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noun
  1. a person or thing that braces, binds, or makes firm.
  2. Informal. a stimulating drink, especially one of liquor.
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Origin of bracer1

First recorded in 1570–80; brace + -er1

bracer2

[brey-ser]
noun Archery.
  1. a guard or band worn over the wrist of the bow hand to protect it from the snap of the bowstring.
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Origin of bracer2

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French braceure, equivalent to brace arm (see brace (noun)) + -ure -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bracer

Historical Examples

  • I do not need a bracer to get me going or a hooker to keep me under way.

    The Old Game

    Samuel G. Blythe

  • Her optimism was the best sort of bracer for the captain's failing courage.

    Cy Whittaker's Place

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • The whisky came and he drank it, feeling that he needed a bracer.

    Her Ladyship's Elephant

    David Dwight Wells

  • Anxiety dreams may play the part of a bracer and tonic in subjects of that type.

    Psychoanalysis

    Andr Tridon

  • Twice Tim Crapsey insisted upon it that he must have a “bracer” from the flask.

    Dave Porter and His Double

    Edward Stratemeyer

British Dictionary definitions for bracer

bracer1

noun
  1. a person or thing that braces
  2. informal a tonic, esp an alcoholic drink taken as a tonic
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bracer2

noun
  1. archery fencing a leather guard worn to protect the arm
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Word Origin

C14: from Old French braciere, from braz arm, from Latin bracchium arm
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bracer

n.

early 14c., "piece of armor protecting the arm;" 1580s, "a clamp, bind, brace," from brace (n.). Figurative sense of "that which braces the nerves" is 1740; especially of alcoholic drinks from c.1850. Related: Bracers.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper