Adjacent Words

Brave definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BRAVE, a.
1. Courageous; bold; daring; intrepid; fearless of danger; as a brave warrior. It usually unites the sense of courage with generosity and dignity of mind; qualities often united.
The brave man will not deliberately do an injury to his fellow man.
2. Gallant; lofty; graceful; having a noble mien.
3. Magnificent; grand; as a brave place.
4. Excellent; noble; dignified. But in modern usage, it has nearly lost its application to things.
5. Gaudy; showy in dress.
BRAVE, n. A hector; a man daring beyond discretion or decency.
Hot braves like these may fight.
1. A boast; a challenge; a defiance.
BRAVE, v.t. To defy; to challenge; to encounter with courage and fortitude, or without being moved; to set at defiance.
The ills of love I can brave.
The rock that braves the tempest.
1. To carry a boasting appearance of; as, to brave that which they believe not.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching; "Familiarity with danger makes a brave man braver but less daring"- Herman Melville; "a frank courageous heart...triumphed over pain"- William Wordsworth; "set a courageous example by leading them safely into and out of enemy-held territory" [syn: brave, courageous] [ant: cowardly, fearful]
2: invulnerable to fear or intimidation; "audacious explorers"; "fearless reporters and photographers"; "intrepid pioneers" [syn: audacious, brave, dauntless, fearless, hardy, intrepid, unfearing]
3: brightly colored and showy; "girls decked out in brave new dresses"; "brave banners flying"; "`braw' is a Scottish word"; "a dress a bit too gay for her years"; "birds with gay plumage" [syn: brave, braw, gay] n
1: a North American Indian warrior
2: people who are brave; "the home of the free and the brave" [ant: cautious, timid] v
1: face and withstand with courage; "She braved the elements" [syn: weather, endure, brave, brave out]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (braver; bravest) Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian & Old Spanish bravo courageous, wild, probably from Latin barbarus barbarous Date: 15th century 1. having or showing courage <a brave soldier> <a brave smile> 2. making a fine show ; colorful <brave banners flying in the wind> 3. excellent, splendid <the brave fire I soon had going — J. F. Dobie> • bravely adverb II. verb (braved; braving) Date: 1546 transitive verb 1. to face or endure with courage 2. obsolete to make showy intransitive verb archaic to make a brave show • braver noun III. noun Date: 1590 1. archaic bravado 2. one who is brave; specifically an American Indian warrior 3. archaic bully, assassin

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 able or ready to face and endure danger or pain. 2 formal splendid, spectacular (make a brave show). --n. an American Indian warrior. --v.tr. defy; encounter bravely. Phrases and idioms: brave it out behave defiantly under suspicion or blame. Derivatives: bravely adv. braveness n. Etymology: ME f. F, ult. f. L barbarus BARBAROUS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brave Brave (br[=a]v), a. [Compar. Braver; superl. Bravest.] [F. brave, It. or Sp. bravo, (orig.) fierce, wild, savage, prob. from. L. barbarus. See Barbarous, and cf. Bravo.] 1. Bold; courageous; daring; intrepid; -- opposed to cowardly; as, a brave man; a brave act. 2. Having any sort of superiority or excellence; -- especially such as in conspicuous. [Obs. or Archaic as applied to material things.] Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth. --Bacon. It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall. --Pepys. 3. Making a fine show or display. [Archaic] Wear my dagger with the braver grace. --Shak. For I have gold, and therefore will be brave. In silks I'll rattle it of every color. --Robert Greene. Frog and lizard in holiday coats And turtle brave in his golden spots. --Emerson. Syn: Courageous; gallant; daring; valiant; valorous; bold; heroic; intrepid; fearless; dauntless; magnanimous; high-spirited; stout-hearted. See Gallant.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brave Brave, n. 1. A brave person; one who is daring. The star-spangled banner, O,long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. --F. S. Key. 2. Specifically, an Indian warrior. 3. A man daring beyond discretion; a bully. Hot braves like thee may fight. --Dryden. 4. A challenge; a defiance; bravado. [Obs.] Demetrius, thou dost overween in all; And so in this, to bear me down with braves. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brave Brave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Braved (br[=a]vd); p. pr. & vb. n. Braving.] 1. To encounter with courage and fortitude; to set at defiance; to defy; to dare. These I can brave, but those I can not bear. --Dryden. 2. To adorn; to make fine or showy. [Obs.] Thou [a tailor whom Grunio was browbeating] hast braved meny men; brave not me; I'll neither be faced or braved. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(braver, bravest, braves, braving, braved) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Someone who is brave is willing to do things which are dangerous, and does not show fear in difficult or dangerous situations. He was not brave enough to report the loss of the documents. ...those brave people who dared to challenge the Stalinist regimes. = courageous ? cowardly ADJ • bravely Mr Kim bravely stood up to authority. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 2. If you brave unpleasant or dangerous conditions, you deliberately expose yourself to them, usually in order to achieve something. (WRITTEN) Thousands have braved icy rain to demonstrate their support. VERB: V n 3. If someone is putting on a brave face or is putting a brave face on a difficult situation, they are pretending that they are happy or satisfied when they are not. He felt disappointed but he tried to put on a brave face... PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Fearless (from temperament), courageous, intrepid, daring, undaunted, dauntless, valiant, bold, chivalrous, chivalric, gallant, valorous, doughty, heroic, hardy, spirited, mettlesome, manful, manly, stout-hearted, high-spirited, high-hearted, Spartan, lion-hearted. 2. Gay, brilliant, fine, effective, showy, debonair. 3. Glowing, ruddy, splendid, gorgeous, effulgent. II. n. 1. (Rare.) Bully, hector, blusterer. 2. Indian warrior. III. v. a. Defy, dare, challenge, set at defiance.

Moby Thesaurus

Achilles, Amazon, David, Hector, Roland, Samson, a man, abide, abide with, advantageous, affront, air serviceman, audacious, aweless, baffle, balk, banter, bear, bear with, beard, bell the cat, beneficial, bid defiance, bide, bite the bullet, blast, bold, bold-spirited, bravura, braw, brazen, brazen out, breast, bright, bring before, bring forward, bring up, brook, bulldog, call out, cannon fodder, challenge, chance, checkmate, chichi, chivalric, chivalrous, chutzpanik, circumvent, colorful, colory, confident, confound, confront, confront with, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, courageous, court destruction, cross, dare, daring, dash, dashing, dauntless, decorated hero, defeat, defiant, defy, defy danger, demigod, demigoddess, destroy, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, disrupt, double-dare, doughty, dressy, elude, encounter, endure, envisage, exhibitionistic, face, face out, face the music, face up, face up to, face with, favorable, favoring, fearless, fighting cock, fighting man, fine, flashing, flashy, flaunting, flummox, foil, food for powder, forget the odds, frilly, front, frothy, frustrate, gallant, gamble, game, gamecock, gay, glittering, good soldier, grand, greathearted, gritty, gutsy, halberdier, handsome, hang in, hang in there, hang tough, hardy, hazard, helpful, hero, heroic, heroine, herolike, hoplite, indomitable, intrepid, ironhearted, jaunty, jazzy, knightlike, knightly, knock the chocks, lay before, legionary, lion, lionhearted, lump, lump it, macho, man of courage, man-at-arms, manful, manly, meet, meet boldly, meet head-on, meet squarely, mettlesome, military man, navy man, noble, nonplus, outdare, outface, paladin, perplex, persevere, pikeman, place before, play with fire, plucky, present to, propitious, put it to, put up with, rakish, resolute, rifle, rifleman, risk, ruin, run the chance, run the gauntlet, run the risk, sabotage, scotch, scream defiance, serviceman, set at defiance, set before, show fight, showy, smart, snazzy, soldier, soldierlike, soldierly, speak out, speak up, spearman, spectacular, spike, spirited, splashy, splendid, splurgy, spoil, sporty, spunky, stalwart, stand, stand for, stand up to, stare down, staunch, steadfast, stem, stick, stonewall, stout, stouthearted, stump, suffer, support, sustain, take a chance, take chances, take up with, tempt Providence, the brave, thwart, tiger, tolerate, toward, unafraid, unapprehensive, unblenching, undaunted, undismayed, unfearful, unfearing, unflinching, unfrightened, unshrinking, unswerving, unyielding, upset, useful, valiant, valiant knight, valorous, venture, venturesome, vivid, warrior, warrioress