braid

present singular third person braids · participle present braiding · participle past braided · past braided · alternative obsolete brayde · alternative obsolete breyde · alternative obsolete broid

1. obsoletetransitiveTo make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
2. archaicintransitiveTo start into motion.
3. transitiveTo weave together, intertwine (strands of fibers, ribbons, etc.); to arrange (hair) in braids.

   Braid your locks with rosy twine.

   1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: interlace, interthread, twine, betwine, entwist, entwine, interlace, interthread

4. To mix, or make uniformly soft, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in preparing food.
5. obsoleteTo reproach; to upbraid.

   Great King, / Few loue to heare the ſinnes they loue to act, / T'would brayde your ſelfe too neare for me to tell it […]

   c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

plural braids · alternative obsolete brayde · alternative obsolete breyde · alternative obsolete broid

1. countableobsoleteA sudden movement; a jerk, a wrench.First known use 11th–17th c.

   And than in a brayde Sir Launcelot brake hys chaynes of hys legges and of hys armys (and in the brakynge he hurte hys hondys sore)[…].

   1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum ii”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC

   1 more example

   He fixt vpon my face, which to my death / Will neuer part fro me, when with a braide / A deepe fet sigh he gaue, and therewithall / Clasping his handes, to heauen he cast his sight.

   1561, Thomas Sackville, Ferrex and Porrex, act IV, scene ii, lines 1274–7

2. countableuncountableA weave of three or more strands of fibers, ribbons, cords or hair often for decoration.First known use 16th c.

   The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.

   2021, Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations, page 154

3. countableuncountableA stranded wire composed of a number of smaller wires twisted together.
4. countableuncountableA tubular sheath made of braided strands of metal placed around a central cable for shielding against electromagnetic interference.
5. countableobsoleteuncountableA caprice or outburst of passion or anger.

   1 more example

   Let the maide learne none uncleanly words, or wanton, or uncomely gesture and moving of the body, no not so much as when she is yet ignorant what shee doth, and innocent; for shee shall doe the same, when shee is growne bigger and of more discretion, […] And oftentimes such braides come uppon them against their will.

   1540, Juan Luis Vives, chapter 2, in Richard Hyrde, transl., Instruction of a Christian Woman

6. countableuncountablemathematicsGiven two sets of n points on corresponding positions on two parallel lines, a braid is a unique set of crossings (over or under) between n strands that connect each point on one line to a point on the other line such that all points represent the terminus of one and only one strand and the traversal of any strand from a starting point to an ending point never moves further away from the from the ending point.

   In order to characterise the structure and complexity of a braid different numbers or topological invariants can be calculated.

   2012, A. T. Skjeltorp, Tamas Vicsek, Complexity from Microscopic to Macroscopic Scales, page 144

   1 more example

   We introduce braids via their historical roots and uses, make connections with knot theory and present the mathematical theory of braids through the braid group.

   2009, Mitchell A. Berger, Louis H. Kauffman, Renzo L. Ricca, Lectures on Topological Fluid Mechanics, page 1

7. countabledialectaluncountableA wicker guard for protecting newly grafted trees.
8. countableobsoleteuncountableA moment, stound.
9. countableobsoleteuncountableA turn of work, job.
10. countableobsoleteuncountableA trick; deception.

comparative more braid · superlative most braid · alternative obsolete brayde · alternative obsolete breyde · alternative obsolete broid

1. obsoleteCrafty, deceitful.

   Since Frenchmen are so braid, / Marry that will, I live and die a maid.

   c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

plural braids · alternative brade · alternative brad · alternative bread · alternative bred · alternative breid · alternative breyd

1. IrelandNorthern EnglandScotlandUKdialectalA shelf or board for holding objects.
2. IrelandNorthern EnglandScotlandUKdialectalA board to press curd for cheese.
3. IrelandNorthern EnglandScotlandUKdialectalA flat board attached to a beam, used for weighing.

1. A surname.