Idioms for brace

    brace up, Informal. to summon up one's courage; become resolute: She choked back her tears and braced up.

Origin of brace

1300–50; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French: pair of arms < Latin brā(c)chia plural (taken as feminine singular) of brā(c)chium arm (< Greek; see brachium); (v.) in part Middle English bracen (< Anglo-French bracier, derivative of brace; cf. embrace1), in participle derivative of the noun

SYNONYMS FOR brace

1 vise.
4 stay, prop, strut.
10 See pair.
15 support, fortify, prop.
17 tauten, tense.
18 fortify.

OTHER WORDS FROM brace

British Dictionary definitions for brace up

brace
/ (breɪs) /

noun

verb (mainly tr)

Word Origin for brace

C14: from Old French: the two arms, from Latin bracchia arms

Medical definitions for brace up

brace
[ brās ]

n.

An orthopedic appliance that supports or holds a movable part of the body in correct position while allowing motion of the part.
Often braces A dental appliance, constructed of bands and wires that is fixed to the teeth to correct irregular alignment.

Idioms and Phrases with brace up

brace up

Also, brace oneself. Summon up one's courage or resolve, as in Brace up, we don't have much farther to go, or Squaring his shoulders, he braced himself for the next wave. This idiom uses brace in the sense of “to bolster” or “to strengthen.” The first term dates from the early 1700s, the variant from about 1500.