Search Chambers
Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
bracket noun 1 non-technical either member of several pairs of symbols, < >, { }, (), [ ], used to group together or enclose words, figures, etc. Technical equivalent angle bracket, brace noun 5, parenthesis, square bracket. 2 usually in compounds a group or category falling within a certain range • income bracket • out of my price bracket. 3 an L-shaped piece of metal or strong plastic, used for attaching shelves, etc to walls. 4 a small shelf fastened to a wall. 5 archit a small projecting support, usually of stonework, eg in the form of a scroll. verb (bracketed, bracketing) to enclose or group together (words, etc) in brackets.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c in noun sense 5: from French braguette, ultimately from Latin bracae breeches.
bracket someone or something together to put them or it into the same group or category. |
brackets 1. round brackets or parentheses These separate a comment off from the rest of the sentence • Applications (six copies) should be lodged with the Vice-Chancellor by 1 October • The novels of Neil Gunn (1891-1973) have enjoyed a recent revival of critical interest. • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical). • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical.) • (This has caused a lot of pain, mental and physical.) Avoid inserting a bracketed full sentence into another sentence: • The new regulations (six copies are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. • The new regulations have been issued to all departments. (Six copies are enclosed for Board members.). • The new regulations (six copies of which are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. Where a bracketed full sentence does occur within another sentence, note that there is no capital letter and no full stop, but that there may be a question mark or exclamation mark • Jean Jones (have you seen her in action?) is the new club champion. They are an economical way of indicating alternatives or options • Any candidate(s) must be formally proposed and seconded by two Club members. They enclose numbers or letters that mark off items in a list • This project needs to be (1) carefully researched and (2) adequately funded. 2. square brackets These enclose letters, words or phrases inserted as comments, corrections or explanations into a piece of quoted text, for example by an editor • He [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr • [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr. |
bracket noun 1 non-technical either member of several pairs of symbols, < >, { }, (), [ ], used to group together or enclose words, figures, etc. Technical equivalent angle bracket, brace noun 5, parenthesis, square bracket. 2 usually in compounds a group or category falling within a certain range • income bracket • out of my price bracket. 3 an L-shaped piece of metal or strong plastic, used for attaching shelves, etc to walls. 4 a small shelf fastened to a wall. 5 archit a small projecting support, usually of stonework, eg in the form of a scroll. verb (bracketed, bracketing) to enclose or group together (words, etc) in brackets.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c in noun sense 5: from French braguette, ultimately from Latin bracae breeches.
bracket someone or something together to put them or it into the same group or category. |
brackets 1. round brackets or parentheses These separate a comment off from the rest of the sentence • Applications (six copies) should be lodged with the Vice-Chancellor by 1 October • The novels of Neil Gunn (1891-1973) have enjoyed a recent revival of critical interest. • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical). • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical.) • (This has caused a lot of pain, mental and physical.) Avoid inserting a bracketed full sentence into another sentence: • The new regulations (six copies are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. • The new regulations have been issued to all departments. (Six copies are enclosed for Board members.). • The new regulations (six copies of which are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. Where a bracketed full sentence does occur within another sentence, note that there is no capital letter and no full stop, but that there may be a question mark or exclamation mark • Jean Jones (have you seen her in action?) is the new club champion. They are an economical way of indicating alternatives or options • Any candidate(s) must be formally proposed and seconded by two Club members. They enclose numbers or letters that mark off items in a list • This project needs to be (1) carefully researched and (2) adequately funded. 2. square brackets These enclose letters, words or phrases inserted as comments, corrections or explanations into a piece of quoted text, for example by an editor • He [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr • [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr. |
bracket noun 1 non-technical either member of several pairs of symbols, < >, { }, (), [ ], used to group together or enclose words, figures, etc. Technical equivalent angle bracket, brace noun 5, parenthesis, square bracket. 2 usually in compounds a group or category falling within a certain range • income bracket • out of my price bracket. 3 an L-shaped piece of metal or strong plastic, used for attaching shelves, etc to walls. 4 a small shelf fastened to a wall. 5 archit a small projecting support, usually of stonework, eg in the form of a scroll. verb (bracketed, bracketing) to enclose or group together (words, etc) in brackets.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c in noun sense 5: from French braguette, ultimately from Latin bracae breeches.
bracket someone or something together to put them or it into the same group or category. |
brackets 1. round brackets or parentheses These separate a comment off from the rest of the sentence • Applications (six copies) should be lodged with the Vice-Chancellor by 1 October • The novels of Neil Gunn (1891-1973) have enjoyed a recent revival of critical interest. • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical). • This has caused a lot of pain (mental and physical.) • (This has caused a lot of pain, mental and physical.) Avoid inserting a bracketed full sentence into another sentence: • The new regulations (six copies are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. • The new regulations have been issued to all departments. (Six copies are enclosed for Board members.). • The new regulations (six copies of which are enclosed for Board members) have been issued to all departments. Where a bracketed full sentence does occur within another sentence, note that there is no capital letter and no full stop, but that there may be a question mark or exclamation mark • Jean Jones (have you seen her in action?) is the new club champion. They are an economical way of indicating alternatives or options • Any candidate(s) must be formally proposed and seconded by two Club members. They enclose numbers or letters that mark off items in a list • This project needs to be (1) carefully researched and (2) adequately funded. 2. square brackets These enclose letters, words or phrases inserted as comments, corrections or explanations into a piece of quoted text, for example by an editor • He [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr • [St Stephen] was the earliest Christian martyr. |
-
The Chambers Dictionary (13th edition)
“Chambers is the one I keep at my right hand”- Philip Pullman.
The unrivalled dictionary for word lovers, now in its 13th edition.
-
The Chambers Thesaurus
The Chambers Thesaurus (4th Edition) is a veritable treasure-trove, including the greatest selection of alternative words and phrases available in an A to Z format. -
Chambers Biographical Dictionary
“Simply all you need to know about anyone” – Fay Weldon.
Thoroughly revised and updated for its 9th edition.
Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
Search Tip
A wildcard is a special character you can use to replace one or more characters in a word. There are two types of wildcard. The first is a question mark ?, which matches a single character. The second is an asterisk *, which matches zero or more characters. The two kinds of wildcard can be mixed in a single search.
View More Search Tips