brace

noun

1. (obsolete)Armor for the arm; vambrace.
2. (obsolete)A measurement of length, originally representing a person's outstretched arms.
3. A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.

   “a brace and bit”

4. That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop.
5. A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension.
6. A thong used to regulate the tension of a drum.

   “The little bones of the ear drum do in straining and relaxing it as the braces of the war drum do in that.”

7. The state of being braced or tight; tension.

   “And I am of opinion, that the moſt frequent cauſe of Deafneſs is to be attributed to the Laxneſs of the Tympanum, vvhen it has loſt its Brace or Tenſion by ſome irregularity in the Figure of thoſe Bones, or defect in that Muſcle: […]”

8. Harness; warlike preparation.

   “’Tis a Pageant / To keepe vs in falſe gaze, when we conſider / Th’importancie of Cyprus to the Turke; / And let our ſelues againe but vnderſtand, / That as it more concerne the Turke then Rhodes, / So may he with more facile queſtion beare it, / For that it ſtands not in ſuch Warrelike brace, / But altogether lackes th’abilities / That Rhodes is dreſs’d in.”

9. 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.
10. 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. (In British use (as plural), this is a particularly common reference to game birds.)

    “But you, my brace of Lords, were I ſo minded / I heere could plucke his Highneſſe frowne vpon you / And iuſtifie you Traitors: […]”

    “A brace of brethren, both bishops, both eminent for learning and religion, now appeared in the church; […]”

    “He is ſaid, this ſummer to have ſhot with his own hands fifty brace of pheaſants, and one wild pig; to have ſet thirty coveys of partridges; and to have hunted down forty brace of hares; […]”

    “"Are you a prime shot?" said Richard. / Ripton nodded knowingly, and answered, "Pretty good." / "Then we'll have a dozen brace apiece to-day," said Richard.”

    “There were four of us,—my friend the captain, myself, an old sportsman from Sognedale, called Peter Sandaker, and a smart boy, who had charge of two brace of hounds.”

11. 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.
12. A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
13. (British, Cornwall)The mouth of a shaft.
14. (British, in-plural)Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders.
15. (plural, singular)A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite.
16. Two goals scored by one player in a game.

    “Coordinate term: hat trick”

    “The Manchester United midfielder’s late brace against Cyprus at the weekend was welcome, but will become no more than a footnote of his Scotland career. His brace here to down the mighty Spanish will go down in history.”

    “To score a 'brace' means that you have scored two goals in a game.”

17. Two wickets taken with two consecutive deliveries.

verb

1. (intransitive, transitive)To prepare for something bad, such as an impact or blow.

   “All hands, brace for impact!”

   “Brace yourself!”

   “The boy has no idea about everything that's been going on. You need to brace him for what's about to happen.”

   “Bradford would have been braced for an early assault from Villa as they tried to cut the deficit - and so it proved as they struggled to control the physical presence and aerial threat of Benteke, who headed straight at Bradford keeper Matt Duke when he should have done better.”

2. To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly.

   “He braced himself against the crowd.”

   “A sturdy lance in his right hand he braced.”

3. To swing round the yards of a square rigged ship, using braces, to present a more efficient sail surface to the direction of the wind.

   “to brace the yards”

4. To stop someone for questioning, usually said of police.
5. To confront with questions, demands or requests.

   “Just about then the young kid who had braced us when we came in uttered a curse and made for the door.”

   ““Constable Fancy’s collecting evidence from his flat while Morse and me brace Valdemar.””

6. To furnish with braces; to support; to prop.

   “to brace a beam in a building”

7. To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen.

   “to brace the nerves”

   “And welcome war to brace her drums.”

8. To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly.

   “The women of China[…], by bracing and binding them [their feet] from their infancy, have very little feet.”

   “some who spurs had first braced on”

name

1. A surname from Old French.