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)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Starting with the centermost box, hold the top molding piece level and attach it to the wall with your brad nailer, adding a nail every 12 inches.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
“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
I just kept working and fastened the halves together with the brad.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s youngest daughter, Vivienne, is seeking to drop “Pitt” from her name, according to People.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Europe should have access to the world’s most capable AI without compromising control over their data, operations or digital future," Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the statement.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
But instead of helming “Troy,” starring a glistening Brad Pitt as Achilles, Nolan embarked on a genre-shifting Batman trilogy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
That same month, two of the adopted children of Hollywood divorcees Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt undertook an important legal step in the process to drop their father's surname, something they began earlier this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
“I’d rather write a poem than work on your dumb maze for your dumb mouse,” answered Brad.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
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
Such boxes, or two-piece diminutive kegs, are used as containers for articles shipped and sold in small bulk, such as tacks, small nails, and brads.
From Seasoning of Wood by Wagner, J. B. (Joseph Bernard)
A straight awl with chisel edge, used to make holes for brads, etc.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
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
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
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 Day, Holman
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
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.
