braid

braid [breyd] ExamplesWord Origin verb (used with object)

1. to weave together strips or strands of; plait: to braid the hair.
2. to form by such weaving: to braid a rope.
3. to bind or confine (the hair) with a band, ribbon, etc.
4. to trim with braid, as a garment.

noun

5. a braided length or plait, especially of hair.
6. a hair style formed by interweaving three or more strands of hair.
7. a narrow, ropelike band formed by plaiting or weaving together several strands of silk, cotton, or other material, used as trimming for garments, drapery, etc.
8. a band, ribbon, etc., for binding or confining the hair.

Origin of braid before 950; Middle English braiden, breiden (v.), Old English bregdan to move quickly, move to and fro, weave; cognate with Old Norse bregtha, Dutch breien Related formsbraid·er, nounwell-braid·ed, adjectiveCan be confusedbraid brayed Related Words for braids pigtail, ponytail, queue, plait, twine, intertwine, lace, cue, mesh, twist, interlace, entwine, ravel, weave, complect, interknit Examples from the Web for braids Contemporary Examples of braids

Matched, in fact, the description of hundreds of young black men in Brooklyn: braids, dark baseball cap, saggy jeans.

The Cost: What Stop and Frisk Does to a Young Man’s Soul

Rilla Askew

May 21, 2014

Inside, sporting a set of braids that would make Katniss Everdeen green with jealousy, is the self-anointed “queen bee,” Lorde.

Watch Lorde’s Magical New Music Video For Her Song “Team”

Marlow Stern

December 3, 2013

The only racism Alicia Keys is likely to encounter in the territories would be some fool trying to touch her braids.

Alicia Keys: Come Visit Palestine

Maysoon Zayid

June 11, 2013

“He actually really did creep me out—as the character—with the braids and the way he talked,” she says.

Selena Gomez on Playing a Bikini-Clad Vigilante in ‘Spring Breakers’

Marlow Stern

March 20, 2013

For a summer cut her mother would lop off the braids, leaving her with a chic bob for the warmer months.

Touching Sylvia Plath’s Hair

Jessica Ferri

February 11, 2013

Historical Examples of braids

And then she recalled Katy’s voice saying: “Braids round your head.”

Her Father’s Daughter

Gene Stratton-Porter

It means that my braids are up to stay, so hereafter I’m a real woman.

Her Father’s Daughter

Gene Stratton-Porter

The girls in kimonas and with their hair in braids, sat in their sitting-room.

Hester’s Counterpart

Jean K. Baird

Nancy, pull your braids around to the front so they can see your blond hair.

Shaman

Robert Shea

Water dripped from the fringe of hair across her forehead and poured from her braids.

Shaman

Robert Shea

British Dictionary definitions for braids braid 1 verb (tr)

1. to interweave several strands of (hair, thread, etc); plait
2. to make by such weavingto braid a rope
3. to dress or bind (the hair) with a ribbon, etc
4. to decorate with an ornamental trim or borderto braid a skirt

noun

5. a length of hair, fabric, etc, that has been braided; plait
6. narrow ornamental tape of woven silk, wool, etc

Derived Formsbraider, nounWord Origin for braid Old English bregdan to move suddenly, weave together; compare Old Norse bregtha, Old High German brettan to draw a sword braid 2 adjective

1. broad

adverb

2. broadly; frankly

Word Origin for braid Scot variant of broad Word Origin and History for braids n.

1520s; see braid (n.).

braid v.

“to plait, knit, weave, twist together,” c.1200, breidan, from Old English bregdan “to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (in wrestling), draw (a sword); bend, weave, knit, join together; change color, vary; scheme, feign, pretend” (class III strong verb, past tense brægd, past participle brogden), from Proto-Germanic *bregthan “make sudden jerky movements from side to side” (cf. Old Norse bregða “to brandish, turn about, braid;” Old Saxon bregdan “to weave;” Dutch breien “to knit;” Old High German brettan “to draw, weave, braid”), from PIE root *bherek- “to gleam, flash” (cf. Sanskrit bhrasate “flames, blazes, shines”). In English the verb survives only in the narrow definition of “plait hair.” Related: Braided; braiding.

braid n.

in part from stem found in Old English gebrægd “craft, fraud,” gebregd “commotion,” Old Norse bragð “deed, trick,” and in part from or influenced by related braid (v.). Earliest senses are “a deceit, stratagem, trick” (c.1200), “sudden or quick movement” (c.1300); meaning “anything plaited or entwined” (especially hair) is from 1520s.