brackets


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Related to brackets: Square brackets

brackets

Brackets ( [ ] ), sometimes known as square brackets, are similar to parentheses in that they are used to contain information that does not impact the overall grammatical structure of the sentence. However, rather than indicating information that is supplemental or incidental, brackets are usually used within quoted speech to indicate that a writer has added material to the quotation to provide clarifying or explanatory information.
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brack·et

 (brăk′ĭt)
n.
1.
a. A simple rigid structure in the shape of an L, one arm of which is fixed to a vertical surface, the other projecting horizontally to support a shelf or other weight.
b. A small shelf or shelves supported by such structures.
2. Architecture A decorative or weight-bearing structural unit, two sides of which form a right angle with one arm flush against a wall and the other flush beneath a projecting surface, such as eaves or a bay window.
3. A wall-anchored fixture for gas or electricity.
4.
a. A square bracket.
b. An angle bracket.
c. Mathematics See brace.
5. Chiefly British One of a pair of parentheses.
6. A classification or grouping, especially within a sequence of numbers or grades, as a category of incomes sharing the same tax rate.
7. A treelike diagram showing the matchups between competitors in different rounds of a tournament.
8.
a. The distance between two impacting shells, the first aimed beyond a target and the second aimed short of it, used to determine the range for artillery fire.
b. The shells fired in such a manner.
tr.v. brack·et·ed, brack·et·ing, brack·ets
1. To furnish or support with a bracket or brackets.
2. To place within or as if within brackets.
3. To classify or group together.
4. To include or exclude by establishing specific boundaries.
5. To fire beyond and short of (a target) in order to determine artillery range.

[Possibly French braguette, codpiece, diminutive of brague, breeches, from Old Provençal braga, from Latin brācae, from Gaulish brāca, leg covering.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

brackets

A pair of punctuation marks, [ ], used to enclose words added to a text. Compare parentheses.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
Translations
závorka
parenteser
sulkeet
zagrade
括弧
괄호
oklepaji
parentes
ในวงเล็บ
dấu ngoặc đơn

brackets

أَقْواس závorka parenteser Klammern παρενθέσεις paréntesis sulkeet parenthèses zagrade parentesi 括弧 괄호 haakjes parentes nawiasy parênteses скобки parentes ในวงเล็บ köşeli parantez dấu ngoặc đơn 括号
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

brackets

n (orthodontics) brackets mpl
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
{36} The lines which I have enclosed in brackets are evidently an afterthought--added probably by the writer herself--for they evince the same instinctively greater interest in anything that may concern a woman, which is so noticeable throughout the poem.
Upon the mantels, and on many shelves and brackets and tables, were clustered ornaments of every description, seemingly made out of all sorts of metals, glass, china, stones and marbles.
Within the RATHHAUS were a number of huge wild boars' heads, preserved, and mounted on brackets along the wall; they bore inscriptions telling who killed them and how many hundred years ago it was done.
"See the cunning brackets to hold candles, and the nice green sild, puckered up, with a gold rose in the middle, and the pretty rack and stool, all complete," added Meg, opening the instrument and displaying its beauties.
"Protests," "Uproar," and "General appeal to the Chairman" were three of the first brackets which caught my eye.
Archer mounted the stairs, turned up the light, and put a match to the brackets on each side of the library mantelpiece.
At intervals, apparently at each street intersection, an oil flare sputtered dimly from brackets set in the walls a trifle higher than a man's head.
Ida was in her boudoir, a tiny little tapestried room, as neat and dainty as herself, with low walls hung with Imari plaques and with pretty little Swiss brackets bearing blue Kaga ware, or the pure white Coalport china.
"And he pointed to the further end of the chateau, where a ladder stood resting against the stone brackets supporting the terrace, under the window which I had found open.
But, the little shop is so excessively dark, is stuck so full of black shelves and brackets and nooks and corners, that he sees Mr Venus's cup and saucer only because it is close under the candle, and does not see from what mysterious recess Mr Venus produces another for himself until it is under his nose.
In all sorts of recesses, and on all kinds of brackets, stood massive old silver candlesticks with four branches each.
He was no longer astonished when he searched on to find in the register this note, placed in a bracket against his name: --