brace / brās/ • n. 1. a device that clamps things tightly together or that gives support, in particular: ∎  a device fitted to a weak or injured neck, leg, or other part of the body for support. ∎  (braces) a wire device fitted in the mouth to straighten the teeth. ∎  a strengthening piece of iron or timber used in building and carpentry. ∎  a tool in carpentry having a crank handle and a socket to hold a bit for boring. ∎  a rope leading aft from each yardarm, used for trimming the sail. ∎  (braces) British term for suspenders.2. either of the two marks { and }, used either to indicate that two or more items on one side have the same relationship as each other to the single item to which the other side points, or in pairs to show that words between them are connected. ∎  Mus. a similar mark connecting staves to be performed at the same time.• v. [tr.] make (a structure) stronger or firmer with wood, iron, or other forms of support: the posts were braced by lengths of timber. ∎  press (one's body or part of one's body) firmly against something in order to stay balanced: she braced her feet against a projecting shelf. ∎  prepare (someone or oneself) for something difficult or unpleasant: both stations are bracing themselves for job losses.ORIGIN: Middle English (as a verb meaning ‘clasp, fasten tightly’): from Old French bracier ‘embrace,’ from brace ‘two arms,’ from Latin bracchia, plural of bracchium ‘arm,’ from Greek brakhiōn.

brace.
1. Subsidiary structural timber, curved or straight, placed at an angle between vertical and horizontal members to complete a triangle and thus stiffen a timber frame. If supporting a rafter, it is called a strut. See truss.

2. See bracket-moulding.

Brace

a pair; a couple, originally of dogs, rarely used for people; a coat of armour. See also cast, yoke.

Examples: brace of bishops; of brethren, 1655; of bucks; of bullets, 1725; of chambers [rooms], 1642; of deer, 1570; of ducks; of dukes, 1768; of fish, 1867; of foxes; of game, 1751; of geldings, 1651; of orthopaedists—Mensa; of partridge, 1741; of pheasants; of pike; of pistols, 1832; of trout, 1715; of wives, 1606.

brace1 †guard for the arm XIV; pair, couple XV; clasp, strap XIV; (archit.) strengthening band; carpenter's tool to hold a bit XVI; (typogr.) bracket XVII. — OF. brace two arms or their extent (mod. brasse fathom) :- L. bracchia, pl. of bracchium arm (whence F. bras) — Gr. brakhíōn. Some senses depend upon BRACE2.

brace2 †embrace, gird XIV; make tense or firm XV. — OF. bracier embrace, f. brace (see prec.); the later sense is direct from the sb.