BRACKET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bracket mean? 

• BRACKET (noun)
  The noun BRACKET has 4 senses:

1. a category falling within certain defined limits

2. either of two punctuation marks ('<' or '>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material

3. either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material

4. a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)

  Familiarity information: BRACKET used as a noun is uncommon.

• BRACKET (verb)
  The verb BRACKET has 3 senses:

1. support with brackets

2. place into brackets

3. classify or group

  Familiarity information: BRACKET used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRACKET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A category falling within certain defined limits

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("bracket" is a kind of...):

set (a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bracket"):

income bracket; income tax bracket; tax bracket (a category of taxpayers based on the amount of their income)

price bracket (a category of merchandise based on their price)

Derivation:

bracket (classify or group)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Either of two punctuation marks ('<' or '>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

angle bracket; bracket

Hypernyms ("bracket" is a kind of...):

punctuation; punctuation mark (the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases)

Derivation:

bracket (place into brackets)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bracket; square bracket

Hypernyms ("bracket" is a kind of...):

punctuation; punctuation mark (the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases)

Derivation:

bracket (place into brackets)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bracket; wall bracket

Hypernyms ("bracket" is a kind of...):

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bracket"):

angle bracket; angle iron (an L-shaped metal bracket)

console (an ornamental scroll-shaped bracket (especially one used to support a wall fixture))

corbel; truss ((architecture) a triangular bracket of brick or stone (usually of slight extent))

modillion ((architecture) one of a set of ornamental brackets under a cornice)

sconce (a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or other sources of light)

shelf bracket (a bracket to support a shelf)

Derivation:

bracket (support with brackets)

• BRACKET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bracket    ... he / she / it brackets   
Past simple: bracketed   
Past participle: bracketed   
-ing form: bracketing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Support with brackets

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

bracket bookshelves

Hypernyms (to "bracket" is one way to...):

hold; hold up; support; sustain (be the physical support of; carry the weight of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bracket (a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Place into brackets

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bracket; bracket out

Context example:

Please bracket this remark

Hypernyms (to "bracket" is one way to...):

edit; redact (prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bracket (either of two punctuation marks ([ or ]) used to enclose textual material)

bracket (either of two punctuation marks ('<' or '>') used in computer programming and sometimes used to enclose textual material)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Classify or group

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "bracket" is one way to...):

group (arrange into a group or groups)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something with something

Derivation:

bracket (a category falling within certain defined limits)

 Context examples 

"Protests," "Uproar," and "General appeal to the Chairman" were three of the first brackets which caught my eye.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A bracket designed for holding a bottom dead center sensor.

(Bottom Dead Center Sensor Bracket Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

A procedure in orthodontics in which brackets are removed from the teeth.

(Debond Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)

For a long time he gazed upward at it, and then in an attempt to get nearer to it he rested his knee upon a wooden bracket on the wall.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As he was speaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out, took my luggage; he had carried it in before I could forestall him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

To bracket the time period when the fresh shallow valleys in Arabia Terra formed, scientists started with age estimates for 22 impact craters in the area.

(Some Ancient Mars Lakes Came Long After Others, NASA)

See the cunning brackets to hold candles, and the nice green silk, 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.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You may want advice on taxes (now that you are heading into a new bracket), how to write a business plan, how to raise money from venture capitalists, or how to qualify for a line of credit from a bank.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This brought his hand within a few inches of the broken end of the rope, but it was not this so much as the bracket itself which seemed to engage his attention.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I don't think the Parian Psyche Laurie gave lost any of its beauty because John put up the bracket it stood upon, that any upholsterer could have draped the plain muslin curtains more gracefully than Amy's artistic hand, or that any store-room was ever better provided with good wishes, merry words, and happy hopes than that in which Jo and her mother put away Meg's few boxes, barrels, and bundles, and I am morally certain that the spandy new kitchen never could have looked so cozy and neat if Hannah had not arranged every pot and pan a dozen times over, and laid the fire all ready for lighting the minute 'Mis. Brooke came home'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)