释义 |
brack·et I. \ˈbrakə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V\ noun (-s) Etymology: earlier bragget, from Middle French braguette codpiece, diminutive of brague breeches, from Old Provençal braga, from Latin braca — more at braccae 1. : a simple or composite often carved or sculptured overhanging member that projects from a wall, pier, or other structure and is usually designed to support a vertical load or to strengthen an angle although it sometimes serves merely as a decorative feature only seeming to give support — compare brace, cantilever, console, corbel, cul-de-lampe, modillion, strut 2. a. (1) : a short crooked ship's timber resembling a knee and used as a support (2) : a flat or flanged triangular ship's plate used especially for connecting frames and deck beams b. : a piece of formed sheet steel to which the parts of a bicycle frame are fastened and in which the crank axle turns — called also bottom bracket, crank hanger, main bracket 3. a. : a short wall shelf (as one with a single support) b. : a fixture projecting from a wall or column (as for holding a lamp or candle) c. : the fruiting body of a bracket fungus — called also conk; compare polyporaceae d. : the curved juncture between serif and vertical stem of a type character 4. a. : one of a pair of marks [] used (1) in writing and printing to enclose matter inserted in a direct quotation, matter extraneous or incidental to context, or phonetic symbols or (2) in logic to indicate operands to be grouped and treated as a unit or (3) in mathematics to serve as signs of aggregation — called also square bracket; see vinculum b. : one of the pair of marks <> used to enclose a mutilated passage or the expansion of an abbreviation in a text or to enclose quotations or verbal illustrations in a reference work such as a dictionary — called also angle bracket, broken bracket, pointed bracket c. : one of a pair of curves () — called also parenthesis, round bracket d. : brace 6b 5. a. : a pair of shots fired to determine the exact distance from gun to target: (1) : a pair that falls short of and beyond the target — called also range bracket (2) : a pair that falls to the right and left of the target — called also deflection bracket b. : the distance often ascertained by instrument between the landings of two shots fired at a distant target and used to correct the aim of the gun 6. : a section of a continuously numbered or graded series < in the 24 to 55 age bracket > < temperatures beyond the 65° to 85° bracket > especially : one of a graded series of income groups < have risen out of the under $2000 class … and climbed a bracket or two — F.L.Allen > 7. a. : a pairing of opponents in an elimination tournament b. : either half of the draw of an elimination tournament < the upper or lower bracket > 8. : a skating figure in which the skater executes from a simple curve a half turn, a cusp, and then another half turn back to the original curve II. transitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) 1. a. : to place within or as if within brackets < bracket a word > < bracket the translation of a quotation in a foreign language > < a face bracketed with tousled hair > b. : to set aside : separate out : eliminate from consideration < the transcendental view requires nature to be bracketed on principle — Marvin Farber > — often used with off < the danger of a positivistic approach to … history that brackets off moral questions — Times Literary Supplement > 2. : to furnish, fasten, or decorate with brackets < an army trunk bracketed to its left running board — E.B.White > < its highly stilted and bracketed arcading has distinct Moorish effects — American Guide Series: Tennessee > 3. a. : to put into the same class : associate < another historical tablet often bracketed with the Rosetta stone — Edward Clodd > b. : classify, group < bracket together cities of around the same population as if they were alike in all other respects — W.J.Reilly > 4. a. : to treat as a pair : deal with simultaneously < Hawaii and Alaska have been bracketed together in recent statehood legislation — Ernest Gruening > b. : to place beside for purposes of comparison : compare < teachers at West Point have bracketed this retreat with … the withdrawal by Napoleon from Moscow — R.L.Neuberger > 5. a. : to obtain a bracket on (as a target) < bracket an enemy convoy > b. : to establish the limits of (as a range of variation or a time interval) < if the guy was murdered in the time you bracket — H.V.Haddock > III. adjective Etymology: modification of Irish Gaelic breac, from Old Irish brec dialect : spotted, speckled IV. noun (-s) Etymology: origin unknown : american merganser |