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BRACED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Positioned so as to be ready for confrontation or danger
Example:
he stood to attention with his shoulders braced
Classified under:
Similar:
prepared (made ready or fit or suitable beforehand)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Held up by braces or buttresses
Synonyms:
braced; buttressed
Classified under:
Similar:
supported (held up or having the weight borne especially from below)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb brace
Context examples:
I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
We waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced himself to tell his story.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And so, as he abandoned his rush at her and braced himself to avoid the contact, she sprang upon him.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Then I braced myself again to my horrid task, and found by wrenching away tomb-tops one other of the sisters, the other dark one.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
“Then must I hew a passage,” cried the stranger, with his shoulder braced round and his hand upon his hilt.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We expected the beach to lift up this way and that, and the rocky walls to swing back and forth like the sides of a ship; and when we braced ourselves, automatically, for these various expected movements, their non-occurrence quite overcame our equilibrium.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It may have been a humble object-lesson, but I give you my word that many a time in my life I have braced myself to a hard task by the remembrance of that morning upon Crawley Downs, asking myself if my manhood were so weak that I would not do for my country, or for those whom I loved, as much as these two would endure for a paltry stake and for their own credit amongst their fellows.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The vanguard halted a long bow shot from the hill, and with waving spears and vaunting shouts challenged their enemies to come forth, while two cavaliers, pricking forward from the glittering ranks, walked their horses slowly between the two arrays with targets braced and lances in rest like the challengers in a tourney.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was as if the devil was in him, for he sprang here and sprang there, now thrusting and now cutting, catching blows on his shield, turning them with his blade, stooping under the swing of an axe, springing over the sweep of a sword, so swift and so erratic that the man who braced himself for a blow at him might find him six paces off ere he could bring it down.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yet ignorance may be more precious than wisdom, for Alleyne as he walked on braced himself to a higher life by the thought of this other's sacrifice, and strengthened himself by his example which he could scarce have done had he known that the Hospitaller's mind ran more upon malmsey than on Mamelukes, and on venison rather than victories.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
