bracket
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A fixture attached to a wall to hold up a shelf.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
brakitSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɹækɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A fixture attached to a wall to hold up a shelf.
engineering
A support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)
engineering
Any intermediate object that connects a smaller part to a larger part, the smaller part typically projecting sideways from the larger part.
nautical
A short crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.
uk
"(" and ")" specifically, the other forms above requiring adjectives for disambiguation.
One of several ranges of numbers.
verb
To support by means of mechanical brackets.
To place in the same category.
To mark distinctly for special treatment.
To set aside, discount, ignore.
To enclose in typographical brackets.
To bound on both sides, to surround, as enclosing with brackets.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A fixture attached to a wall to hold up a shelf.
Used this way, bracket is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.