Читаем Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

2 N‑COUNT Brackets are pieces of metal, wood, or plastic that are fastened to a wall in order to support something such as a shelf. □  Fix the beam with the brackets and screws. □  …adjustable wall brackets.

3 VERB If two or more people or things are bracketed together , they are considered to be similar or related in some way. □ [be V -ed with together ] Small businesses are being bracketed together as high risk, regardless of their business plans and previous histories. □ [be V -ed + with ] Austrian wine styles are often bracketed with those of northern Germany.

4 N‑COUNT [usu pl, oft in N ] Brackets are a pair of written marks that you place round a word, expression, or sentence in order to indicate that you are giving extra information. In British English, curved marks like these are also called brackets , but in American English, they are called parenthesis . □  The prices in brackets are special rates for the under 18s.

5 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Brackets are pair of marks that are placed around a series of symbols in a mathematical expression to indicate that those symbols function as one item within the expression.

brack|ish /bræ k I ʃ/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Brackish water is slightly salty and unpleasant. □  …shallow pools of brackish water.

brag /bræ g/ (brags , bragging , bragged ) VERB If you brag , you say in a very proud way that you have something or have done something. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V + about ] He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. □ [V + to ] He'll probably go around bragging to his friends. □ [V that] He once bragged that he would become the world's richest man. [Also V with quote, V ]

Brah|min /brɑː m I n/ (Brahmins ) also Brahman N‑COUNT A Brahmin is a Hindu of the highest social rank.

braid /bre I d/ (braids , braiding , braided )

1 N‑UNCOUNT Braid is a narrow piece of decorated cloth or twisted threads, which is used to decorate clothes or curtains. □  …a plum-coloured uniform with lots of gold braid.

2 VERB If you braid hair or a group of threads, you twist three or more lengths of the hair or threads over and under each other to make one thick length. [AM ] □ [V n] She had almost finished braiding Louisa's hair. □ [V -ed] He pictured her with long black braided hair. in BRIT, use plait 3 N‑COUNT A braid is a length of hair which has been divided into three or more lengths and then braided. [AM ] in BRIT, use plait

braid|ed /bre I d I d/ ADJ A piece of clothing that is braided is decorated with braid.

Braille /bre I l/ N‑UNCOUNT Braille is a system of printing for blind people. The letters are printed as groups of raised dots that you can feel with your fingers.

brain ◆◆◇ /bre I n/ (brains )

1 N‑COUNT Your brain is the organ inside your head that controls your body's activities and enables you to think and to feel things such as heat and pain. □  Her father died of a brain tumour.

2 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Your brain is your mind and the way that you think. □  Once you stop using your brain you soon go stale. □  Stretch your brain with this puzzle.

3 N‑COUNT If someone has brains or a good brain , they have the ability to learn and understand things quickly, to solve problems, and to make good decisions. □  I had a good brain and the teachers liked me.

4 N‑COUNT [usu pl] If someone is the brains behind an idea or an organization, he or she had that idea or makes the important decisions about how that organization is managed. [INFORMAL ] □  Mr White was the brains behind the scheme. □ [+ of ] Some investigators regarded her as the brains of the gang.

5 PHRASE If you pick someone's brains , you ask them to help you with a problem because they know more about the subject than you. [INFORMAL ] □  Why should a successful company allow another firm to pick its brains?