English Reference

Word

bra

US/ˈbɹɑ/

UK/bɹˈɑː/

Definitions

01clothing

A2

n. a piece of underwear that women wear to support their breasts.

n. an undergarment worn by women to support the breasts.

“She bought a new sports bra to wear for her running sessions.”

“The fashion industry has seen a shift toward wireless bra designs that prioritise comfort without sacrificing necessary support.”

Synonyms

brassiere

02friend

C1

n. a very informal way to say 'friend' or 'brother', used when talking to a man.

n. a slang variant of 'bro', used as a familiar term of address for a male peer.

“What's up, bra? I haven't seen you in ages.”

“The use of 'bra' as a vocative is common in certain surf and skate subcultures, though it is often perceived as highly informal.”

Slang · Informal · Dialect

Teaching tip

This is a phonetic spelling of 'bro' common in South African and surfer dialects; learners should be careful as it is identical to the clothing term.

Synonyms

03quantum mechanics

C2 · Science

n. a special symbol used in physics to describe the state of a particle.

n. the row vector in Dirac notation, representing the complex conjugate of the corresponding ket vector.

“The professor explained how to multiply a bra and a ket in the equation.”

“In quantum mechanics, the inner product of a bra and a ket results in a complex scalar value.”

Technical

Antonyms

ket

Real-World Examples

“However, research shows up to 88% of girls wear sports bras that do not fit properly, and only about a third wear a sports bra during PE or school sports.”
Phys.org · 15 Sept 2026

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/bra

English Reference