bracer

¹ American  

[brey-ser] / ˈbreɪ sər /

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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bracer ² American  

[brey-ser] / ˈbreɪ sər /

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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bracer ¹ British  

/ ˈbreɪsə /

noun

1. a person or thing that braces

2. informal a tonic, esp an alcoholic drink taken as a tonic

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bracer ² British  

/ ˈbreɪsə /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of bracer¹

First recorded in 1570–80; brace + -er ¹

Origin of bracer²

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French braceure, equivalent to brace arm ( brace (noun)) + -ure -ure

Example Sentences

Even as it stands, it is a clear, vivid warning and bracer to that man-in-the-street who makes or breaks democracies, seldom reads books, and is this book's ideal reader.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was hard to take this as anything more than a tough old soldier's morale-stiffening bracer for worse ordeals yet to come.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Royal Navy's success in scotching France's sea power before the Axis could get it was a national bracer.

From Time Magazine Archive

The news that Britain�for 200 years "ruler of the waves"�was now a third-rate naval power sent M.P.s racing to the downstairs bar for a bracer.

From Time Magazine Archive

With these as a bracer for the day, Frightful and I would stamp out into the snow and reel down the mountain.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George