braid
- to weave together strips or strands of; plait: to braid the hair.
- to form by such weaving: to braid a rope.
- to bind or confine (the hair) with a band, ribbon, etc.
- to trim with braid, as a garment.
- a braided length or plait, especially of hair.
- a hair style formed by interweaving three or more strands of hair.
- a narrow, ropelike band formed by plaiting or weaving together several strands of silk, cotton, or other material, used as trimming for garments, drapery, etc.
- a band, ribbon, etc., for binding or confining the hair.
Origin of braid
Related Words
pigtailponytailqueueplaittwineintertwinelacecuemeshtwistinterlaceentwineravelweavecomplectinterknitExamples from the Web for braid
Contemporary Examples
Boys let me know they liked me, too, and I realized that I looked good, tall and slim, my long hair in a braid down my back.
(9 p.m.) WEDNESDAY Braid Paisley and Carrie Underwood host the 42nd annual CMA Awards on ABC.
Historical Examples
I think, on the whole, I shan't be obliged to learn to braid straw.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
She did not braid her hair, but let it hang over her shoulders.
The DreamEmile Zola
Call her a Harvest Hamper, and braid her lovely locks with strings of onions!
The Green Satin GownLaura E. Richards
She had put her own hair down into a braid to be like the girl Dinney had told of.
Gloria and Treeless StreetAnnie Hamilton Donnell
They attire themselves with care, they braid the garland, and they tune the pipe.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
braid1
- to interweave several strands of (hair, thread, etc); plait
- to make by such weavingto braid a rope
- to dress or bind (the hair) with a ribbon, etc
- to decorate with an ornamental trim or borderto braid a skirt
- a length of hair, fabric, etc, that has been braided; plait
- narrow ornamental tape of woven silk, wool, etc
Word Origin
braid2
- broad
- broadly; frankly
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for braid
v.
"to plait, knit, weave, twist together," c.1200, breidan, from Old English bregdan "to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (in wrestling), draw (a sword); bend, weave, knit, join together; change color, vary; scheme, feign, pretend" (class III strong verb, past tense brægd, past participle brogden), from Proto-Germanic *bregthan "make sudden jerky movements from side to side" (cf. Old Norse bregða "to brandish, turn about, braid;" Old Saxon bregdan "to weave;" Dutch breien "to knit;" Old High German brettan "to draw, weave, braid"), from PIE root *bherek- "to gleam, flash" (cf. Sanskrit bhrasate "flames, blazes, shines"). In English the verb survives only in the narrow definition of "plait hair." Related: Braided; braiding.
n.
in part from stem found in Old English gebrægd "craft, fraud," gebregd "commotion," Old Norse bragð "deed, trick," and in part from or influenced by related braid (v.). Earliest senses are "a deceit, stratagem, trick" (c.1200), "sudden or quick movement" (c.1300); meaning "anything plaited or entwined" (especially hair) is from 1520s.