bracket

[ brak-it ]

/ ˈbræk ɪt /

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See synonyms for: bracket / bracketed / bracketing / brackets on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

a shelf or shelves so supported.

Also called square bracket. one of two marks [ or ] used in writing or printing to enclose parenthetical matter, interpolations, etc.

Mathematics.

brackets, parentheses of various forms indicating that the enclosed quantity is to be treated as a unit.
(loosely) vinculum (def. 2).
Informal. an expression or formula between a pair of brackets.

a grouping of people based on the amount of their income: the low-income bracket.

a class; grouping; classification: She travels in a different social bracket.

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

Architecture.

any horizontally projecting support for an overhanging weight, as a corbel, cantilever, or console.
any of a series of fancifully shaped false consoles beneath an ornamental cornice.

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

Shipbuilding.

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

a projecting fixture for gas or electricity.

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

verb (used with object)

to furnish with or support by a bracket or brackets.

to place within brackets; couple with a brace.

to associate, mention, or class together: Gossip columnists often bracket them together, so a wedding may be imminent.

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

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

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Origin of bracket

First recorded in 1570–80; earlier brag(g)et, from Middle French braguette “codpiece,” diminutive of Old Provençal braga “breeches” (see brogue²)

OTHER WORDS FROM bracket

un·brack·et·ed, adjective

Words nearby bracket

brachyuran, brachyurous, bracing, braciola, bracken, bracket, bracket clock, bracket creep, bracket foot, bracket fungus, bracketing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bracket in a sentence

Under that new system, teams with the misfortune of ranking outside the top four seeds in their conference were forced to play an extra round to even qualify for the regular 16-team bracket.
Can The Pittsburgh Penguins Save Their Season?|Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com)|February 11, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
If the bracket were seeded today based on the BracketMatrix aggregate, Loyola would be the second-best double-digit seed of the past 20 seasons, trailing only — of course — Wichita State.
Remember Loyola? This Team Is Even Better Than The One That Made The Final Four.|Jake Lourim|February 10, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
When companies signed the Presidency Reemployment Agreement in 1933, they agreed to wage brackets and price caps.
One solution to pandemic unemployment? Working less|Samanth Subramanian|February 5, 2021|Quartz
The engine had been removed, “but its mounting brackets, as well as the fuel and oxidizer tanks, were still in place,” recalled Finer.
Lunik: Inside the CIA’s audacious plot to steal a Soviet satellite|Bobbie Johnson|January 28, 2021|MIT Technology Review

Using the seedings from that consensus bracket, we can simulate the outcome by estimating the number of possessions for each team and, using the team’s adjusted offensive rating found at Ken Pomeroy’s site, project a scoring margin for each matchup.
Gonzaga has a good chance to go undefeated and win the national championship|Neil Greenberg|January 15, 2021|Washington Post
Even at the age bracket where men and women appear closest in frequency, there is nothing remotely close to masturbation parity.
C’mon, Ladies, Masturbation Isn’t Just for Bad Girls|Emily Shire|June 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Do you fill out one bracket or different brackets for each pool?
ESPN’s Bracket Champion Shares His March Madness Secrets|Ben Teitelbaum|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I just go with that same bracket and I usually enter that into multiple pools.
ESPN’s Bracket Champion Shares His March Madness Secrets|Ben Teitelbaum|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Are you cool with your bracket getting ruined if UCLA wins the national title?
ESPN’s Bracket Champion Shares His March Madness Secrets|Ben Teitelbaum|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
People ask me this: Would you trade UCLA winning the national championship for not winning the bracket challenge?
ESPN’s Bracket Champion Shares His March Madness Secrets|Ben Teitelbaum|March 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A lovely bracket of carved wood fixed to the wall held a cheap cuckoo-clock from Switzerland.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
Rather hard on politicians this, to bracket their patriotic endeavours with pitch-and-toss and alcoholic indulgence!
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 109, July 27, 1895|Various
Beside the font is a very quaint iron bracket-stand, painted blue and gold, "constructed to carry" two candles.
Notes and Queries, Number 196, July 30, 1853|Various
And please do not think when I thus seem to bracket myself with you, that I am wholly blinded with vanity.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
He turned into a side street, at the corner of which was a broken lamp bracket used for hanging a man not a week ago.
The Light That Lures|Percy Brebner

British Dictionary definitions for bracket

bracket

/ (ˈbrækɪt) /

noun

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

one or more wall shelves carried on brackets

architect a support projecting from the side of a wall or other structureSee also corbel, ancon, console 2

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

a general name for parenthesis, square bracket, brace (def. 6)

a group or category falling within or between certain defined limitsthe lower income bracket

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

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

verb -kets, -keting or -keted (tr)

to fix or support by means of a bracket or brackets

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

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

(often foll by with) to group or class togetherto bracket Marx with the philosophers

to adjust (artillery fire) until the target is hit

Word Origin for bracket

C16: from Old French braguette codpiece, diminutive of bragues breeches, from Old Provençal braga, from Latin brāca breeches

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

bracket

Origin of bracket

OTHER WORDS FROM bracket

Words nearby bracket

Words related to bracket

How to use bracket in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bracket

Word Origin for bracket