ENGLISH
REFERENCE

brackets

n. countable
B1 Intermediate US //ˈbɹækəts// UK //bɹˈækɪts// brack·ets

n. a pair of marks, like ( ) or [ ], used around extra information in a sentence. You use them to keep a side comment separate from the main part of your writing.

n. a pair of punctuation marks used to enclose parenthetical information or mathematical expressions. Often used to clarify a point or provide additional data without interrupting the main syntactic flow.


SIMPLE

Please put the dates in brackets.

CONTEXTUAL

The author included the original Greek terms in brackets after the English translations to help academic readers.

COMPLEX

While parentheses are the most common form of brackets in general prose, square brackets are typically reserved for editorial interpolations or to clarify a quote's original meaning.

Synonyms
Usage

Usually used in the plural form because they appear in pairs. In British English, 'brackets' often refers specifically to ( ), whereas American English calls those 'parentheses'.

Pitfall

The information (is in bracket).The information (is in brackets).Because they always come in pairs, the word is almost always used in the plural when referring to the punctuation marks.

© 2026 English Reference