braves

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of brave.

   The chief sent his finest braves to scout the river valley.

   Painted braves lined the ridge as the wagons approached.

   Note

   A regular plural, but of a noun whose meanings have mostly fallen away. The warrior sense, used of Native American fighters, is now dated, so in modern prose it signals the voice of an older period rather than neutral description. Older meanings, swaggering bullies or acts of defiance and bravado, are obsolete. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, as in she braves the cold.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of brave.

   Each spring she braves the rapids in a small wooden kayak.

   The lone climber braves the storm to reach the summit before nightfall.

   Note

   A verb that takes the danger itself as its direct object: she braves the storm, he braves the crowds, with no preposition in between. Because the verb covers defying and provoking as well as enduring, the object can be a hostile person as easily as foul weather. An older meaning, to adorn or make showy, is obsolete. It echoes the adjective's sense of making a fine display.

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