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

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. ))

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

The commercial waterman won in the small boat division of the singles bracket with a time of 23 seconds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Nobody will know until 2028 and answers will depend on the package, your tax bracket and your level of fandom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

The combination of pretax savings at a higher tax bracket and a tax bill at a lower tax bracket sets up what Chancey called “a discount Roth conversion.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Done backwards, you’ve paid tax on an RMD you meant to give away and burned bracket space you needed.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

“They stopped hurting. But my mom will be so pissed if another bracket comes off.”

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

Save the Children said the new uniform rules are a "good start" but back-to-school costs remain a concern for families across almost all income brackets.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Your main priority now should be planning for the surviving spouse who could face fewer standard deduction, narrower tax brackets and even higher Medicare premiums.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Importantly, Peta also noted that equities account for a greater share of household net worth across all wealth brackets.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

More people would rise into higher brackets and pay more in tax as their incomes grow.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 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

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

“Language as Liberation” comprises the rough, incomplete outlines for Morrison’s lectures, with bracketed page citations for the novels under discussion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

While adverts have long bracketed sporting action on commercial television in the United Kingdom, it was the first time they had made a mid-match incursion into the viewing experience.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026

He paused alongside the wall, the rust-colored soil at his feet spreading for miles around, his view bracketed by the San Jose Mountains to the south and a majestic limestone bluff to the north.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2025

Here were two artists, one black and one Puerto Rican, standing beneath a 115-year-old chandelier, bracketed by towering antique portraits of George and Martha Washington, singing about feeling “at home in this nation we’ve made.”

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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

We looked down at La Mutua’s logo emblazoned on the main hall’s hardwood floor — “S.P.M.D.T.U.” bracketing two clasped hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

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

Related Words

• category