brace

Definitions

• (obsolete) Armor for the arm; vambrace.
• (obsolete) A measurement of length, originally representing a person's outstretched arms.
• A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.
• That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.
• A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension.
• A thong used to regulate the tension of a drum.
• The state of being braced or tight; tension.
• Harness; warlike preparation.
• (typography) A curved, pointed line, also known as "curly bracket": { or } connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be considered together, such as in {role, roll}; in music, used to connect staves.
• A pair, a couple; originally used of dogs, and later of animals generally (e.g., a brace of conies) and then other things, but rarely human persons. (The plural in this sense is unchanged.) In British use (as plural), this is a particularly common reference to game birds.
• A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.
• (nautical) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
• (UK) The mouth of a shaft.
• (UK) Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.
• (plural in North America, singular or plural in the UK) A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite.
• (soccer) Two goals scored by one player in a game.