bracket

Pluralbrackets

Formsbrackets, bracketing, bracketed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A support, usually L-shaped, that is fastened to a wall so that a shelf can rest on it.

   He fastened a steel bracket beneath the shelf for extra support.

   The shelf collapsed when one bracket pulled free from the plaster.

   Similarsupport, brace

   Note

   Shelf brackets carry the whole word's unlikely pedigree. It came through earlier bragget from Old French braguette, the opening at the front of a pair of breeches, a diminutive of brague, "britches", and back to Latin brāca, "pants". A tailor's word ended up holding shelves, and the verb means fixing something with exactly this kind of support.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A range of numbers treated as one of several into which a set is divided.

   A small raise can move you into a higher tax bracket.

   Households in the lowest income bracket received the rebate first.

   Similarband, range, group, category, tier

   Note

   Most at home as the second half of a compound: tax bracket, age bracket, income bracket. The ranges form a ladder, so people move into a higher or lower bracket, or talk about the lowest and the top brackets. On its own, without a compound in front, the word usually needs context to say what is being divided.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   Any of the characters, such as ( ), [ ], { }, ⟨ ⟩ and < >, used in pairs to enclose parenthetical remarks, parts of mathematical expressions, and similar material.

   The program crashed because a single curly bracket near the end of the file was never closed.

   The editor put the missing words in square brackets so readers could tell they were not in the original letter.

   Note

   Here the word is an umbrella for every paired mark that fences off text, whatever its shape. Used on its own, it narrows, and not always the same way: for some readers a bracket is only ( ), the round pair, and for others only [ ], the square pair. When the shape matters, as in code or an edited quotation, name it: round, square, curly or angle brackets.

4. 4
   nounUKcountable

   Either of the round marks “(” and “)”, which in British usage the unqualified word denotes, other shapes needing a modifier.

   She placed the author's initials inside brackets after the quotation.

   A stray bracket left the equation looking unbalanced.

   Similarparenthesis

   Note

   British English uses the plain word for the round pair, ( and ), the marks American writers call parentheses. Every other shape needs an adjective: square brackets, curly brackets, angle brackets. The American usage points the bare word at a different pair, so "put it in brackets" can produce different marks on either side of the Atlantic. Naming the shape avoids the confusion.

5. 5
   nounUScountable

   Either of the square marks “[” and “]”, which American usage names with the plain word, the other shapes carrying their own technical names.

   When you insert a clarifying word into a quotation, surround it with brackets.

   A single bracket without its partner signals a typo.

   Note

   An American narrowing: where the broad sense covers every paired enclosing mark, a US reader hears only the square pair. The round marks are called parentheses, the curly ones braces, and the angled ones have names of their own as well. When writing for a mixed audience, say "square brackets", because the round-mark meaning uses the same word for "(" and ")".

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A diagram of the games in a tournament, showing which teams play whom.

   The tournament bracket pitted the top seed against a qualifier in the first round.

   Fans studied the bracket to see whom their team might face next.

   Similardraw

   Note

   Single-elimination play is drawn as a branching tree, and the bracket is that tree. Pairings feed into single lines, round by round, until one competitor is left at the top. Seeds and qualifiers are placed on it before play starts, and fans read it to see whom a team might face next. The betting sense is the same chart filled in ahead of time.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A filled-out prediction of who wins each game in a tournament, used for betting.

   Millions of fans submit a bracket each spring hoping to pick every winner.

   A single upset can wreck an otherwise perfect bracket.

   Note

   The chart becomes a game. Before play begins, a fan fills in a winner for every matchup, and the finished sheet is itself a bracket, scored against real results in pools or wagers. People fill out, submit or wreck a bracket. A perfect one, with every pick right, is the prize, and a single early upset can sink it.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To group together as belonging to the same category.

   Reviewers tend to bracket her early films with the French New Wave.

   It's unfair to bracket every immigrant under a single label.

   Similargroup, class, lump, categorize, pigeonhole

   Oppositeseparate, distinguish

   Note

   Usually followed by together or with, and often carrying a hint that the lumping is careless. Arthur Conan Doyle complains that once villains enter the field for money, "the public very naturally brackets them all together", honest mediums included. The neutral use simply groups like with like, as when seven-year-olds are bracketed with eight-year-olds to make up a team.

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To hold a structure in place using mechanical brackets.

   Engineers bracket the heavy sign to the building's facade.

   The canopy was bracketed to the wall with steel supports.

   Similarmount, fix, fasten, secure, attach

10. 10
    verbtransitive

    To enclose words within typographical brackets in a text.

    Editors bracket inserted words to show they were not in the original.

    He bracketed the uncertain reading in his transcription.

    Similarparenthesize

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