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# bracket

«bracket» in Mova's school dictionary: **the marks ( ) put around numbers in a sum to show which…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (bracket, brackets); verb (bracket, brackets, bracketed, bracketing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Brackets are the marks ( ) put around numbers in a sum to show which part to work out first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#m1)

2) In writing, brackets hold extra words that are not needed for the sentence to make sense. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#m2)

3) A bracket is a metal or wooden support fixed to a wall to hold up a shelf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#m3)

4) A bracket is a group or range: «the 8–10 age bracket». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

in maths, the part of a calculation done first; in stories, a support that holds a shelf; in English: brackets (parentheses) for extra information; kinds: round ( ), square [ ], curly { }; in everyday life: «age bracket», «price bracket»; in the USA round brackets are called parentheses

### examples

- Work out (3 + 4) × 2. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x1)
- In 20 − (5 + 3), add 5 and 3 first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x2)
- Put brackets in 6 + 4 × 2 to make 20. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x3)
- Each shelf needs 2 brackets. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x4)
- My cousin (who lives in Wales) is coming to stay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x5)
- Close the bracket after the last number. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x6)
- Dad screwed the brackets to the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x7)
- The race is for children in the 9–11 age bracket. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x8)
- She threw her broom at the bird, who was perched on a bracket high up on the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/#x9)

### note

Tells the order of operations: work inside the brackets first. Trap: 20 − (5 + 3) = 12 but 20 − 5 + 3 = 18; brackets change the answer. Every opening bracket needs a closing one. Order: brackets, then × and ÷, then + and −.

### In the corpora

- [Brackets, a pair of dashes, or a pair of commas can all mark parenthesis.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/6/)
- [Dashes give a stronger break than brackets or commas, and can make writing more dramatic; used too often they lose their effect.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/36-brackets-dashes-colons-semicolons-and-hyphens/7/)
- [Work out what is in brackets first.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/lessons/137-brackets-as-stories/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bracket» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bracket/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.