brad
noun
a slender wire nail having either a small, deep head or a projection to one side of the head end.
brad
1 American
[brad]
/ bræd /
noun
-
brads
plural
verb (used with object)
bradded,
bradding
Brad
2
American
[brad]
/ bræd /
noun
brad
British
/ bræd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brad
1425–75; late Middle English brad, dialectal variant of Middle English brod ( d ) sprout, shoot, nail < Old Norse braddr, cognate with Old English brord spike ( see braird)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Whoever picked that cover for brad pitt’s GQ issue is getting fireddddd,” wrote @nicholasdante_.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
Louis Vuitton logo brad is seen outside a Louis Vuitton store in Paris, France, January 27, 2020.
From Reuters ● Sep. 22, 2021
Tweeted one: “walter is brad pitt for us smart girls.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2017
On Brad Evans: It has been a tough week for brad.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2010
I just kept working and fastened the halves together with the brad.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
“We only win if you win,” said Brad Howard, co-founder and managing partner of Fantasy Claw Arcade, which is expanding through franchising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Brad Cooper, confirmed them after inspecting the vessel.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
After visiting the vessel on Saturday, Adm Brad Cooper said it had "among the lowest number of cases related to mental health" out of 11 active US aircraft carriers.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Brad Wright, chairman of the school’s board, said he was unaware of which coaches were under investigation even though he was on campus earlier this week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
I run over and say bye to Benny and Brad.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
Paper bag, plush, and recently she started making flat ones out of cardboard that have joints made out of metal brads giving them some mobility.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 10, 2016
An insurance adjuster allowed the claim, but the company discovered that smart Gerald Bodine had mulcted insurance firms ten times for gulping nails, brads, tacks, pins, et al.
From Time Magazine Archive
I had been promoted from gluing on the bristles to fastening the wooden halves of a brush together with brads.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
It only requires to be cut to shape and then fixed to the hull with a few brads.
From Boys' Book of Model Boats by Raymond F. (Raymond Francis) Yates
The aluminum bottom does not run completely over the bow piece, but merely overlaps it sufficiently to be fastened by brass brads, as illustrated in Fig.
From Boys' Book of Model Boats by Raymond F. (Raymond Francis) Yates
I switched on the light and looked into a cracked piece of mirror bradded with bent nails to the wall.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
You have bradded me on, and told me that a man of the woods always gets what he wants if he goes after it right.
From King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day
They come in thick wood doors with iron nails bradded through, fastened on big hinges, fastened it with chains and iron bars.
From Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Arkansas Narratives, Part 4 by Work Projects Administration
It was three planks thick, crossed one another and bradded together wid iron nails.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
