brace1 verbbrace2 noun
bracebrace1 /breɪs/ verb 
VERB TABLE
brace
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | brace |
| he, she, it | braces | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | braced |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have braced |
| he, she, it | has braced | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had braced |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will brace |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have braced |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am bracing |
| he, she, it | is bracing | |
| you, we, they | are bracing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was bracing |
| you, we, they | were bracing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been bracing |
| he, she, it | has been bracing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been bracing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be bracing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been bracing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Alex braced his arms and pushed the car out of the road.
- The building uses steel poles to brace the roof.
- Each time an elderly man approached, he braced himself for it to be Stillman.
- Guy tensed the instant she moved, as though bracing himself for resistance.
- However, if you insist on sawing the post in place, brace it firmly.
- Now I get my rifle ready and brace myself, making sure of my footing.
- Patrick braced his head against the rest just as the crash came.
- The question was like a blow, causing Roz to brace herself against the sofa.
Longman Language Activatorto prepare yourself for something that you have to do
to make yourself mentally and physically ready for something that you will have to do: · Before starting to write an answer in an exam, prepare yourself by thinking about what you want to say.prepare yourself for: · They prepared themselves for a long wait.· She has spent the last year preparing herself for the race.
if you are prepared for something unpleasant or difficult, you expect it and you have thought about it, so that you can deal with it more easily: · The children were seasick last time, so this time we're prepared .be prepared for: · I just wasn't prepared for such a difficult interview.be well prepared: · Clark's lawyers were well prepared and confident.
to do all the things you need to do in order to be ready to do something, especially things such as washing or dressing before you go somewhere: · You'd better go get ready - it's almost 8 o'clock.get ready to do something: · I was just getting ready to go out when Tim called.get yourself ready for something: · In the stadium, the sprinters are getting themselves ready for the 100-metre race.
to prepare yourself for something unpleasant that is about to happen: · Here comes the boss, and she's not looking happy! You'd better brace yourself!brace yourself for: · Socialist party leaders are bracing themselves for defeat.brace yourself to do something: · I didn't really want to hear the rest, but I braced myself to listen.
to prepare yourself to do something that you know will be upsetting, frightening, or unpleasant: · I had to steel myself before I could tell her about the accident.steel yourself to do something: · She steeled herself to look at the body again.steel yourself for: · Jim steeled himself for a fight.
informal to prepare yourself mentally for something difficult by making yourself believe that you can do it and that you really want to do it: · I tried to psych myself up before the interview.psych yourself up for: · A lot of athletes use music to psych themselves up for a game.
to prepare yourself to do something that you do not want to do, by gradually making yourself more and more determined to do it: · I haven't asked him yet, but I'm working up to it.work up to doing something: · She's been working up to telling her boyfriend it's over.
especially British to prepare yourself mentally for something such as a test or important game, by gradually making yourself believe that you can do it successfully: · The game's on Friday, so we're starting to gear ourselves up during training.gear yourself up for: · He's been gearing himself up for his exams over the past few weeks.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
Gina braced her back against the wall and pushed as hard as she could. The pilot told passengers and crew to brace themselves for a rough landing.
Gina braced her back against the wall and pushed as hard as she could. The pilot told passengers and crew to brace themselves for a rough landing.PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[transitive] to mentally or physically prepare yourself or someone else for something unpleasant that is going to happenbrace yourself (for something)- It retains the Sympatex lining of the earlier model - belt and braces if you like.
- It was sealed with Sellotape and staples, a real belt and braces job.
- Three: portly old men should use belt and braces, in case their trousers burst open; the belt hides the disaster.
- Where glues are concerned, I, personally, would not scorn to wear both a belt and braces.
Nancy braced herself for the inevitable arguments. The military needs to brace itself for further spending cuts, says McCoy.brace yourself to do something Cathy braced herself to see Matthew, who she expected to arrive at any minute.be braced for something The base was braced for an attack.2[transitive] to push part of your body against something solid in order to make yourself more steadybrace something against something Gina braced her back against the wall and pushed as hard as she could.brace yourself (for something) The pilot told passengers and crew to brace themselves for a rough landing.3[transitive] to make something stronger by supporting it: Wait until we’ve braced the ladder. Workers used steel beams to brace the roof.4[intransitive, transitive] to make your body or part of your body stiff in order to prepare to do something difficultbrace1 verbbrace2 noun
bracebrace2 noun WORD ORIGINbrace2
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French ‘two arms’, from Latin bracchia, from bracchium ‘arm’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Diane had to wear a neck brace for eight weeks after the accident.
- The steel beam serves as a brace for the ceiling.
- A dozen suited men were fastening the edges of the insulator to the brace of the frame.
- I shift down the bench to make room for a girl with a knee brace.
- Many Clutton players and supporters were still stunned by Royston Marley's brilliant brace of goals as they boarded the bus home.
- McInerney swam over to the co-pilot and put a neck brace on him.
- Once on the brace, he thought that was as far as he could go.
- Several children in this group needed a full brace in order to be able to stand.
- She bore the sliding brace of a credit-card franker.
- She exercised constantly, even when it hurt, and she eventually was able to walk without a leg brace.
WORD SETS
A, nounABC, nounalpha, nounalphabet, nounalphabetical, adjectiveampersand, nounapostrophe, nounasterisk, nounB, nounbeta, nounblock capitals, nounblock letters, nounbrace, nounbracket, nounbracket, verbC, nouncapital, nouncapital, adjectivecapitalize, verbcaps, cedilla, nouncircumflex, nounclause, nouncolon, nouncomma, nounconsonant, nounCyrillic, adjectiveD, noundash, noundelta, noundiacritic, nounditto, nounE, nounexclamation mark, nounF, nounG, noungamma, nounGothic, adjectivegrave, adjectiveH, nounhyphen, nounI, nounIPA, nounJ, nounK, nounL, nounletter, nounlower case, nounM, nounN, nounNHS, the, O, nounoblique, nounomega, nounP, nounparenthesis, nounperiod, nounpunctuate, verbpunctuation, nounpunctuation mark, nounQ, nounquestion mark, nounquestion tag, nounquotation mark, nounR, nounrune, nounS, nounschwa, nounscript, nounsemicolon, nounslash, nounsmall, adjectivespeech marks, nounsquare bracket, nounstar, nounstenography, nounstress mark, nounT, nountilde, nounU, nounumlaut, nounupper case, nounV, nounvowel, nounW, nounX, nounY, nounZ, nounzed, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY She had to wear a brace after the accident.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
(=a brace that supports the neck etc) He was being fitted for a back brace.
He was being fitted for a back brace. She had to wear a brace after the accident.· I shift down the bench to make room for a girl with a knee brace.
· She's rushed to hospital on a stretcher in a neck brace.· McInerney swam over to the co-pilot and put a neck brace on him.· The hearing aid is replaced by the neck brace.· No serious musicologist will be spotted in an audience minus a neck brace.· The only doubt concerning whether she would succeed occurred before the tournament began, when she was spotted with a neck brace.
VERB· What a tragedy if that son had to wear a brace for the rest of his life.· He told us she might need to wear a brace to correct it.· By 40, I wore a brace on my left leg and used a motorized scooter to cover all but short distances.· He wore a brace on the knee last season and caught 41 passes and scored two touchdowns.· Vick wore a ski brace on his right ankle and moved as if he were knee-deep in powder.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► bracesPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[countable] something that is used to strengthen or support something, or to make it stiff: - And how about a brace of grouse for ourselves?
- Bruce Dyer celebrated his new contract with a brace of goals for the Tykes.
- Firstly, there's a brace of ballads.
- I took credit cards, and keys, and a brace of shirts.
- It concerned a pair of boots and a brace of rabbits.
- Suppose I have a brace of electrons.
- Would Jobbernole return with a brace of male servitors, throw her into a sack and thereafter into the River Carrow?
- It retains the Sympatex lining of the earlier model - belt and braces if you like.
- It was sealed with Sellotape and staples, a real belt and braces job.
- Three: portly old men should use belt and braces, in case their trousers burst open; the belt hides the disaster.
- Where glues are concerned, I, personally, would not scorn to wear both a belt and braces.
The miners used special braces to keep the walls from collapsing.neck/back/knee brace (=a brace that supports the neck etc) He was being fitted for a back brace. She had to wear a brace after the accident.2[countable] (also braces [plural]) a system of metal wires that people, usually children, wear on their teeth to make them grow straight3[countable usually plural] American English a metal support that someone with weak legs wears to help them walk SYN callipers British English4braces [plural] British English two long pieces of material that stretch over someone’s shoulders and fasten to their trousers at the front and the back to stop them falling down SYN suspenders American English5[countable] one of a pair of signs { } used to show that information written between them should be considered together6a brace of something especially British English two things of the same type, especially two birds or animals that have been killed for food or sport: a brace of partridge