A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock. • That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop. • A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension. • A thong used to regulate the tension of a drum. • The state of being braced or tight; tension. • Harness; warlike preparation. • A curved, pointed line, also known as "curly bracket": { or } connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be considered together, such as in {role, roll}; in music, used to connect staves. • A pair, a couple; originally used of dogs, and later of animals generally (e.g., a brace of conies) and then other things, but rarely human persons. (In British use (as plural), this is a particularly common reference to game birds.) • 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. • A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon. • The mouth of a shaft. • Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders. • A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite. • Two goals scored by one player in a game. • Two wickets taken with two consecutive deliveries. • Armor for the arm; vambrace. • A measurement of length, originally representing a person's outstretched arms.