Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary -- Volume ABBra·bant"ine (?), a. Pertaining to Brabant, an ancient province of the Netherlands. Brab"ble (?), v. i. [D. brabbelen to talk confusedly. ?95. Cf. Blab, Babble.] To clamor; to contest noisily. [R.] Brab"ble, n. A broil; a noisy contest; a wrangle. This petty brabble will undo us all. Brab"ble·ment (?), n. A brabble. [R.] Holland. Brab"bler (?), n. A clamorous, quarrelsome, noisy fellow; a wrangler. [R] Shak. Brac"cate (?), a. [L. bracatus wearing breeches, fr. bracae breeches.] (Zoöl.) Furnished with feathers which conceal the feet. Brace (?), n. [OF. brace, brasse, the two arms, embrace, fathom, F. brasse fathom, fr. L. bracchia the arms (stretched out), pl. of bracchium arm; cf. Gr. ?.] 1. That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop. 2. A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension, as a cord on the side of a drum. The little bones of the ear drum do in straining and relaxing it as the braces of the war drum do in that. 3. The state of being braced or tight; tension. The laxness of the tympanum, when it has lost its brace or tension. 4. (Arch. & Engin.) A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell. |