brack·et / ˈbrakit/ • n. 1. each of a pair of marks [ ] used to enclose words or figures so as to separate them from the context: symbols are given in brackets. 2. a category of people or things that are similar or fall between specified limits: those in a high income bracket. 3. a right-angled support attached to and projecting from a wall for holding a shelf, lamp, or other object. ∎  a shelf fixed with such a support to a wall. • v. (-et·ed , -et·ing ) [tr.] 1. (usu. be bracketed) place (one or more people or things) in the same category or group: he is sometimes bracketed with the “new wave” of film directors. 2. enclose (words or figures) in brackets: [as adj.] (bracketed) the relevant data are included as bracketed points. ∎  Math. enclose (a complex expression) in brackets to denote that the whole of the expression rather than just a part of it has a particular relation, such as multiplication or division, to another expression. 3. hold or attach (something) by means of a right-angled support: pipes should be bracketed. 4. Mil. establish the range of (a target) by firing two preliminary shots, one short of the target and the other beyond it. ∎  Photog. establish (the correct exposure) by taking several pictures with slightly more or less exposure.

bracket.
1. Member (essentially a type of brace) projecting from the naked of a wall to support by means of leverage an element that overhangs.

2. Ancon, console, corbel, modillion, mutule, or other element expressing a support, or even a cantilever principle.

bracket projection serving as a support XVI; (typogr.) one of the marks () [] { } XVIII (earlier brace). Earliest forms brag(g)et — F. braguette codpiece, or Sp. bragueta codpiece, bracket, dim. of F. bragues (pl.) breeches — Pr. braga, It. (arch.) braga (mod. braca, pl. brache breeches). The source is L. brāca, pl. brācæ breeches, long hose, of Gaulish origin (see BREECH). It has been suggested that the bracket of architecture and ship-building was so called from its resemblance to a codpiece or a pair of breeches. See -ET.

BRACKET

The category of the percentage ofincome taxfound on the tax tables set by theinternal revenue code, within which a taxpayer falls based upon his or her taxable income.