braid.
To make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
Meaning & usage
To make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
To start into motion.
To weave together, intertwine (strands of fibers, ribbons, etc.); to arrange (hair) in braids.
To mix, or make uniformly soft, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in preparing food.
To reproach; to upbraid.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English braiden, breided, bræiden, from Old English breġdan (“to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (wrestling), draw (sword), drag; bend, weave, braid, knit, join together; change color, vary, be transformed; bind, knot; move, be pulled; flash”), from Proto-West Germanic *bregdan, from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną (“to flicker, flutter, jerk, tug, twitch, flinch, move, swing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēḱ-, *bʰrēǵ- (“to shine, shimmer”). Cognate with Scots Scots brade, Scots braid (“to move quickly or suddenly”), Saterland Frisian braidje (“to knit”), West Frisian breidzje, Dutch breien (“to knit”), Low German breiden, German breiden, Bavarian bretten (“to move quickly, twitch”), Icelandic bregða (“to move quickly, jerk”), Faroese bregða (“to move quickly, react swiftly; to draw (sword)”) and Faroese bregda (“to plaid, braid, twist, twine”).
A sudden movement; a jerk, a wrench.
A weave of three or more strands of fibers, ribbons, cords or hair often for decoration.
A stranded wire composed of a number of smaller wires twisted together.
A tubular sheath made of braided strands of metal placed around a central cable for shielding against electromagnetic interference.
A caprice or outburst of passion or anger.
Given 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.
A wicker guard for protecting newly grafted trees.
A moment, stound.
A turn of work, job.
A trick; deception.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English braiden, breided, bræiden, from Old English breġdan (“to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (wrestling), draw (sword), drag; bend, weave, braid, knit, join together; change color, vary, be transformed; bind, knot; move, be pulled; flash”), from Proto-West Germanic *bregdan, from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną (“to flicker, flutter, jerk, tug, twitch, flinch, move, swing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēḱ-, *bʰrēǵ- (“to shine, shimmer”). Cognate with Scots Scots brade, Scots braid (“to move quickly or suddenly”), Saterland Frisian braidje (“to knit”), West Frisian breidzje, Dutch breien (“to knit”), Low German breiden, German breiden, Bavarian bretten (“to move quickly, twitch”), Icelandic bregða (“to move quickly, jerk”), Faroese bregða (“to move quickly, react swiftly; to draw (sword)”) and Faroese bregda (“to plaid, braid, twist, twine”).
Crafty, deceitful.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English braiden, breided, bræiden, from Old English breġdan (“to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (wrestling), draw (sword), drag; bend, weave, braid, knit, join together; change color, vary, be transformed; bind, knot; move, be pulled; flash”), from Proto-West Germanic *bregdan, from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną (“to flicker, flutter, jerk, tug, twitch, flinch, move, swing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēḱ-, *bʰrēǵ- (“to shine, shimmer”). Cognate with Scots Scots brade, Scots braid (“to move quickly or suddenly”), Saterland Frisian braidje (“to knit”), West Frisian breidzje, Dutch breien (“to knit”), Low German breiden, German breiden, Bavarian bretten (“to move quickly, twitch”), Icelandic bregða (“to move quickly, jerk”), Faroese bregða (“to move quickly, react swiftly; to draw (sword)”) and Faroese bregda (“to plaid, braid, twist, twine”).
A shelf or board for holding objects.
A board to press curd for cheese.
A flat board attached to a beam, used for weighing.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English brede, bræd, bred, from Old English bred (“board, plank, tablet, table”), from Proto-West Germanic *bred, from Proto-Germanic *bredą (“board, plank”), e-grade byform of *burdą (“board, plank”). Cognate with Scots bred, braid, brad (“board, plank, wooden tablet”), Saterland Frisian Brääd (“board, plank”), West Frisian bret (“board, plank”), Dutch bred, berd (“plank, table”), German Low German Bredd (“board, plank”), German Brett (“board, plank”), Danish bræt (“board, plank”)..
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.