# bracket

/ˈbɹækɪt/ (US) · /bɹˈækɪt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/bracket
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. wall support

noun · CEFR B2

a piece of metal or wood attached to a wall to hold up a shelf or other object.

For teachers: a structural fixture, typically L-shaped, attached to a vertical surface to support a horizontal projection such as a shelf or beam.

- He bought two metal brackets to put up a new bookshelf in the office.
- The heavy oak mantelpiece was secured by ornate wrought-iron brackets that had been custom-forged to match the room's Victorian aesthetic.

### 2. punctuation marks

noun · CEFR B2

marks like ( ) or [ ] used in writing to separate extra information from the rest of the sentence.

For teachers: any of several pairs of typographical marks used to enclose parenthetical information or mathematical expressions.

- The author's birth date was written in brackets after his name.
- The editor suggested placing the supplementary data in square brackets to distinguish it from the primary citations within the text.

Usage: In British English, 'brackets' usually refers to ( ), while in American English, these are called 'parentheses' and 'brackets' refers to [ ].

### 3. a range or category

noun · CEFR B2

a group of people or things within a certain range, like an age group or a tax level.

For teachers: a defined category or range within a series of values, often used for demographic or financial classification.

- Most of the people at the concert were in the 18-25 age bracket.
- The government introduced a new tax bracket for high earners to increase revenue for public infrastructure projects.

### 4. tournament diagram

noun · CEFR B2 · American English

a diagram that shows which teams play each other in a competition.

For teachers: a tree diagram representing the series of games in an elimination tournament.

- I filled out my tournament bracket, but my favorite team lost in the first round.
- The underdog's unexpected victory completely disrupted the regional bracket, forcing analysts to revise their championship predictions.

### 5. to group together

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

to put two or more people or things into the same category.

For teachers: to classify or group distinct entities together, often implying they share similar characteristics.

- It is unfair to bracket all young people together as if they all have the same opinions.
- Critics often bracket these two composers together because of their shared use of folk melodies, despite their vastly different harmonic languages.

### 6. photography

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to take several photos of the same thing with different settings to get the best one.

For teachers: to take multiple shots of the same subject using different exposure values to ensure at least one is correctly exposed.

- When the lighting is tricky, it is a good idea to bracket your shots.
- The photographer decided to bracket the exposure by two stops to capture the full detail of the sunset against the dark foreground.

## Examples

- Most of my friends are in the same age bracket.
- The government is introducing a new tax bracket for people earning over one hundred thousand dollars a year.
- The architect specified heavy-duty steel brackets to ensure the cantilevered balcony could withstand the weight of the planters and outdoor furniture.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.