The laxness of the tympanum, when it has lost its brace or tension.
Holder.
4. (Arch. & Engin.) A piece of material used to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.
5. (Print.) A vertical curved line connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be taken together; thus, boll, bowl; or, in music, used to connect staves.
6. (Naut.) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.
7. (Mech.) A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock.
8. A pair; a couple; as, a brace of ducks; now rarely applied to persons, except familiarly or with some contempt. "A brace of greyhounds." Shak.
He is said to have shot . . . fifty brace of pheasants.
Addison.
A brace of brethren, both bishops, both eminent for learning and religion, now appeared in the church.
Fuller.
But you, my brace of lords.
Shak.