brad

plural brads

1. A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.

   Into the middle arch of each desk silver-headed brads had been hammered to form a lion, a bear, a ram, a dove, and in the midst a flaming torch.

   1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber, published 2007, page 5

2. USelementary school usageA paper fastener, a fastening device formed of thin, soft metal, such as shim brass, with a round head and a flat, split shank, which is spread after insertion in a hole in a stack of pages, in much the same way as a cotter pin or a split rivet.

present singular third person brads · participle present bradding · participle past bradded · past bradded

1. transitiveTo attach using a brad.
2. transitiveTo upset the end of a rod inserted in a hole so as to prevent it from being pulled out, as when riveting.

plural brads

1. A binary radian.

1. A diminutive of the male given names Bradley, Bradly, and Bradford, also used as a formal given name.

   […] Brad Schimel wants to make sure women don’t have the right to make their own health care decisions. If he wins, that right is gone,” Crawford says in the ad.

   2025 March 29, David Wright and Alex Leeds Matthews, “Musk flexes influence as Wisconsin Supreme Court race smashes spending records”, in CNN, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2025

   1 more example

   As journalist Brad Polumbo pointed out, Kirk previously wrote on X: "Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There's ugly speech. There's gross speech. There's evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free."

   2025 September 16, Robby Soave, “Pam Bondi Is Really Wrong About Hate Speech”, in Reason, archived from the original on 13 Nov 2025

2. A city in Hunedoara County, Romania.

plural Brads

1. incel slangSynonym of Chadlite (“a man of a slightly lower ranking on a scale of physical attractiveness than Chad”)

   Members then rate the user, with men who are 10/10 deemed "Chads," those just below them "Brads," those who are around 5/10 "normies," and those who are 3/10 or lower "subhuman" or "ogres."

   2025 April 22, Frances Willick, “'Your face looks grotesque': How looksmaxxing can harm young men and boys”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2025

   Synonyms: Chadlite