braces
braces Lexical Profile
braces Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An orthodontic appliance consisting of wires and brackets attached to the teeth to correct alignment and bite irregularities.
"The orthodontist adjusted her braces during the monthly checkup to gradually straighten her teeth."
British A pair of adjustable straps worn over the shoulders and fastened to the waistband of trousers to hold them up.
"He wore a crisp white shirt with red braces clipped neatly to his tailored wool trousers."
A pair of curly punctuation marks ({ }) used in writing, mathematics, and computer programming to group related items or enclose blocks of code.
"In many programming languages, functions and loops are enclosed within a pair of curly braces."
Word Nuance & Usage
In North American English, 'braces' almost exclusively refers to orthodontic devices for the teeth, whereas in British and Commonwealth English, 'braces' commonly means straps worn over the shoulders to hold up trousers (called 'suspenders' in North America).
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the plural of 'brace', which comes from Old French 'brace' meaning 'two arms', ultimately from Latin 'bracchia', the plural of 'bracchium' ('arm').