brace
verb/breɪs/
/breɪs/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they brace | /breɪs/ /breɪs/ |
| he / she / it braces | /ˈbreɪsɪz/ /ˈbreɪsɪz/ |
| past simple braced | /breɪst/ /breɪst/ |
| past participle braced | /breɪst/ /breɪst/ |
| -ing form bracing | /ˈbreɪsɪŋ/ /ˈbreɪsɪŋ/ |
- brace somebody/yourself (for something) | brace somebody/yourself (to do something) to prepare somebody/yourself for something difficult or unpleasant that is going to happen
- UN troops are braced for more violence.
- They are bracing themselves for a long legal battle.
- brace something/yourself (against something) to press your body or part of your body strongly against something in order to stop yourself from falling
- They braced themselves against the wind.
- brace something to contract the muscles in your body or part of your body before doing something that is physically difficult
- He stood with his legs and shoulders braced, ready to lift the weights.
- brace something (specialist) to make something stronger or more solid by supporting it with something
- The roof was braced by lengths of timber.
Word OriginMiddle English (as a verb meaning ‘clasp, fasten tightly’): from Old French bracier ‘embrace’, from brace ‘two arms’, from Latin bracchia, plural of bracchium ‘arm’, from Greek brakhiōn.
Check pronunciation:
brace