bracing 
654 
brad 
bracing (bra'sing), n. [Verbal 11. of brace 1 , r.] 
1. The act of one that braces, or the state of 
being braced. 
The mural sinew of the Knglish, indeed, must have Invn 
strung when it jidnntted of sneh stringent bracing. 
Froutlt, Hist. Bug., i. 
2. In etigiit., a system of braces: as, the bra- 
riiig of a truss. 
bracing (bra'sing), p. a. [Ppr. of brace 1 , i:] 
Having the quality of giving strength or toue; 
invigorating : as, a tracing air. 
To read him [Di-yden] is as bracing as a northwest wind. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 79. 
brack 1 ! (brak), . [Not found in correspond- 
ing form and sense in ME. or AS. (though agree- 
ing in form with the closely related early ME. 
brae, < AS. gebnec, gebrec = OS. gibrak = MLG. 
brak = OHG. gabrch, MHG. gebrech = Icel. brak 
= Sw. brak = Dan. brag, a loud noise); cf. 
MLG. brak, neut., rarely rnasc., equiv. to brake, 
fern., a break, breach, defect, trespass, = MD. 
braecke, D. braak, fern., breach, breaking, bur- 
glary, = OHG. braclut, MHG. brdchc, fern., 
breaking (of ground after harvest: see brakeA). 
The word, in E., is practically another form of 
brccJc (q. v.), which, with the equiv. brake 1 , 
breek 2 , and break, n., is practically a var. of 
breach (q. v.), break and breach being the usual v over ,, th ^ mou * h , f . a shaft - , 
representatives, in noun form, of the orig. verb, Bracket 1 (brak et), v. t [< bracket, n.] 
2. A gas-pipe with a burner, and often a sup- Bracon (brak'on), n. [NL.] A genus of ich- 
port for a shade or globe, projecting from a neumon-flies, giving name to the family Sraco- 
wall or pillar. Such brackets are commonly provided nidte. B. impostor and E. charus 
with one or more joints, in order tliat the position of the (Riley) are examples. 
formerly called crotchets, used to inclose a note, 
reference, explanation, or the like, and thus sep- 
arate it from the context; sometimes, also, one 
of a pair of braces \ j- similarly used, or a sin- 
gle brace | used to couple two or more lines 
or names. Hence 5. The position of being 
sects, otherwise known as Ichneu- 
mones adsciti, distinguished from 
the true ichneumon-flies by having 
only one recurrent nerve in the fore 
wing instead of two. The larva; most- 
ly infest caterpillars and the larvie of bee- 
tk-s living in wood. The genera are nu- 
merous. Also Hfufiiinh'*. llractrnitei*. 
cellence at the first three days' examinations. The class- 
list was called the bracket*, and the last day's examination 
the examination of the brackets. 
plete armor, a defense for the 
thighs and hips, composed of ring- 
shaped plates of steel worn hori- 
BraconnierefrtJ. 
(From Viollet- 
A candidate who was dissatisfied with his bracket might zontally one below another, form- ... .,.,. 
challenge any other candidate he pleased to a fresh ex- j n g a jjind of skirt and secured du Mobilil !' 'ran- 
amination - to one another either by vertical 5 " 
AS. brecan, E. break, etc. : see break^ breck, 
breach.] 1. A break or opening in anything; a 
breach; a rent. [Still in dialectal use.] 
The last hour of his promise now run out, 
And he break? Some brack's in the frame of nature 
That forceth his breach. 
Chapman, Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, iv. 1. 
There warn't a brack in his silk stockin's. 
Mm. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 59. 
2. A flaw; a defect; an imperfection. 
You may find time out in eternity, . . . 
Ere stain or brack in her sweet reputation. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, i. 1. 
3. A broken part ; a piece. 
brack 1 ! (brak), v. t. [A var. of break; cf. brack 1 , 
n.] To break. 
brack 2 t (brak), n. [Prop, adj., < D. brak, MD. 
brack (= MLG. brack, LG. brak, brackish, briny), 
in comp. brak-water, brackish water, brak-goed, 
goods spoiled by salt water (> Dan. brak, G. 
brack, brackish (in comp. brackwasser, brackgut, 
etc.); G. brack, refuse, trash); prob. same as 
MD. brack, fit to be thrown away, and ult., like 
brack 1 , from the root of break, q. v. Cf. brack- 
ish, bracky.] Brackish water; saltwater. 
Scorn'd that the brack should kiss her following keel. 
Draytnn, Win. de la Poole to Queen Margaret, i. 316. 
brack 3 (brak), . [A var. of brake 3 , n.] A kind 
of harrow, tfalliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
bracken (brak'en), H. [< ME. broken, brakan, 
etc., a northern form, Sc. bracken, brechan, 
breckan, brecken, braikin; of Seand. origin: < 
Sw. broken = Dan. bregnc, fern, bracken; cf. 
Icel. burkni, fern ; AS. braccc, fern : see brake^.] 
A fern, especially the Pteris aquilina and other 
large ferns. See brake&. 
The bracken rusted on their crags. 
Tennyson, Edwin Morris. 
bracken-clock (brak'en-klok), n. A lamelli- 
./. W. L. Glaisher, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., xviii. 12. 
_, , straps to which each plate was riveted, or by 
6f. A mime g! Ven t o a head-dress of the four- being sewed to a skirt of stuff, or by rivets slid- 
teenth century. 7. In mining, the platform ing in grooves. See Almain-rivet. 
bract (brakt), n. [= F. bractee, < L. braetea, 
also brattea, a thin plate of metal, gold-leaf, 
1. To 
furnish with or support by a bracket or brack- 
ets ; in writing and printing, to place within 
brackets. 2. To place on or within the same 
bracket or brackets ; join or mention together 
as coequal or correlative ; connect by or as if by 
a printers' brace: as, the names of Smith and 
Jones are bracketed, or bracketed together, as 
candidates. [For a corresponding use of the 
noun, see bracket 1 , n., 5.] 
bracket 2 , . Same as bragged. 
bracket-crab (brak'et-krab), . A hoisting ap- 
paratus fastened to a 
wall. 
bracketing (brak ' et - 
ing), n. [< bracket 1 + 
-ing 1 ."] The series of 
wooden ribs nailed to 
the ceiling, joists, and 
battening to support 
cornices, especially 
large plaster cornices. 
Cove bracketing. See 
cove-bracketing. 
bracket-trail (brak'et- 
tral), . Milit., a kind 
Bracts. 
i. Campanula : a, a, bracts ; l>, t>, brac- 
teoles. a, Marigold : a, a, bracts of the 
peduncle; *, bractsof the involucre. (From 
Le Maout and Decaisne's '" ~ 
de Botanique." ) 
veneer.] 1. In 
bot., a leaf in 
a flower-cluster 
or subtending a 
flower, usually 
differing some- 
what from an 
ordinary leaf in 
size, form, or 
texture, often 
much reduced, 
and sometimes 
petaloid, high- 
ly colored, and 
very conspicu- 
ous. 2. In 
roo/., a part of 
a hydrozoan li- 
kened to a bract 
, frame ; #, post ; c, handle ; 
(*", sheave-block. 
connected by transoms. 
Those designed for siege-guns were longer and had two 
sets of trunnion-beds. For transportation the trunnions 
Traite general 
of a plant; a 
hydrophyllium. See cuts under Athori/bia and 
hydrophyllium. 3. A thin plate of metal used 
as an ornament, as, for example, one of the 
gold disk-like ornaments made in Scandinavian 
' I Ml , If. !!'<'., 'I I'. I L I 1 I ' . >,1 T-"! 
of built-up trail former- countries m the \ikmg age. 
ly used, consisting of bracteal (brak te-al), a. [= F. braeteal, < LL. 
two girders or brackets bractealis, of metallic plates, < L. braetea: see 
bract.] Relating to or of the nature of a bract. 
bracteate (brak'te-at), a. and n. [= F. bracte- 
were shifted to tlie traveling trumiion-beds or those near- 
est the trunnion-plate. See trail. 
corn beetle, Amsoplia"(PhyllopertJin) horticola, brackishness (brak'ish-nes), n. 
the larva of which is very destructive to grasses being brackish ; saltness in a slight degree." bracted (brak ' ted), . IX 
and trees. Curtis. v>fo/>tiTr ^v, n i,'m rv j;i .. , -F .-. . , - _" . . "-. 
bracket 1 (brak'et), n. 
[Early mod. E. brak- 
_ Possessing a salt or 
somewhat salt taste ; salt in a moderate de- 
gree : applied to water. 
Choakt with the labouring ocean's bracki*h tome. 
Marston, Antonio and Mellida, I. i. 
The quality of 
ness in a sli " 
brackly (brak'li), a. [E. dial., as if < brack 1 + 
[Early mod. E. bragget; -ly 1 , but rather a var. of brockle = brickie: see 
prob. connected with Sp. bragueta, a kind of brickie.] Brittle. [Prov. Eng.] 
quarter or projecting molding, a particular use Brackmant, . Same as Brahman. 
ol &ra;7efa(= Ol. 6ragc), the opening of the brackyt (brak'i), a. [< brack% + -y 1 .] Same 
tore part of a pair of breeches, < Sp. Pg. bragas, as brack-tali : as, " brackii fountains,'' Dravton. 
breeches: see breech. The word is usually as- 
sociated with brace 1 .] 1. A supporting piece 
or combination of pieces of moderate projec- 
tion, generally springing from a vertical sur- 
face, (a) I,, arch., an ornamental projection from the 
face of a wall, intended to support a statue, pier, etc.; a 
corbel, (b) In carp.: (1) A 
wooden support of triangu- 
lar outline placed under a 
shelf or the like. (2) An or- 
namental piece supporting a 
hammer-beam, (3) A tie for 
strengthening angles. (<) One 
of the stays that hold a loco- 
motive-boiler to the frame; 
also, of those used to hold the 
slide-bars, (d) Any projecting 
wooden or metal piece fas- 
tened to a wall or other sur- 
face as a support for some ob- 
ject. Brackets for machinery 
are of very many different 
forms, according to the situa- 
tions in which they are placed 
and the uses for which they 
serve, as wall-bracket*, lianging-braeteti or humierx etc 
See hanger. 
ate, < L. bracteatus, covered with gold-leaf, < 
braetea : see bract."] I. a. Furnished with 
bracts, in any sense of that word. 
II. n. In numis., one of certain silver coins 
current in the middle ages, 
chiefly in Germany. Bracte- 
ates were first issued about the 
middle of the twelfth century, 
were of very thin material, and 
stamped with a design in re- 
pousse. 
Furnished 
German Bracteate, Brit- 
ish Museum. (Size of the 
original. ) 
In 
Bracket for Statue. Cathe- 
dral of Reims, France; i-jth 
century. 
bract + -erf 2 .] 
with bracts. 
bracteiform (brak ' tf - i - 
form), a. [= F. brdctei- 
forme; < L. braetea, a thin 
plate (mod. E. bract), + forma, shape.] 
bot., resembling a bract. 
bracteolate (brak'te-o-lat), a. [< L. bractcoJa 
(see bracteole) + -ate 1 ."] Furnished with brac- 
teoles. 
bracteole (brak'te-61), n. [= F. bracteole; < L. 
bracteola, a thin leaf of gold, in NL. a little 
bract, dim. of braetea : see bract.] In bot., a 
little bract situated on a partial flower-stalk or 
pedicel, between the bract and the calyx, and 
usually smaller than the true bract. Also called 
bractlet. See cut under bract. 
bractless (brakt'les), a. [< bract + -less.] In 
bot., destitute of bracts. 
bractlet (brakt'let), . 
Same as bracteole. 
brad (brad), . [< ME. brat/, usually brod, Sc. 
broil (also prod: see /imd), < Icel." broddr, a 
spike, = Sw. In-odd = Dan. orodde, a frost-nail, 
= AS. brord, > ME. brurd, a point, blade, or 
spire of grass; cf. Corn, briin, :i sting; perhaps 
ult. connected with bristle, q. v. See braird, 
A slender flat nail having, instead 
[< bract + dim. -let.] 
