brace vs run

brace

verb
  • To prepare for something bad, such as an impact or blow. 

  • To bind or tie closely; to fasten tightly. 

  • To furnish with braces; to support; to prop. 

  • To stop someone for questioning, usually said of police. 

  • To confront with questions, demands or requests. 

  • To draw tight; to tighten; to put in a state of tension; to strain; to strengthen. 

  • To place in a position for resisting pressure; to hold firmly. 

  • To swing round the yards of a square rigged ship, using braces, to present a more efficient sail surface to the direction of the wind. 

noun
  • Harness; warlike preparation. 

  • That which holds anything tightly or supports it firmly; a bandage or a prop. 

  • A cord, ligament, or rod, for producing or maintaining tension. 

  • The state of being braced or tight; tension. 

  • 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. 

  • A system of wires, brackets, and elastic bands used to correct crooked teeth or to reduce overbite. 

  • Straps or bands to sustain trousers; suspenders. 

  • Two goals scored by one player in a game. 

  • A pair, a couple; originally used of dogs, and later of animals generally (e.g., a brace of conies) and then other things, but rarely human persons. (The plural in this sense is unchanged.) In British use (as plural), this is a particularly common reference to game birds. 

  • A curved, pointed line, also known as "curly bracket": { or } connecting two or more words or lines, which are to be considered together, such as in {role, roll}; in music, used to connect staves. 

  • A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon. 

  • A curved instrument or handle of iron or wood, for holding and turning bits, etc.; a bitstock. 

  • A thong used to regulate the tension of a drum. 

  • The mouth of a shaft. 

run

verb
  • To encounter or suffer (a particular, usually bad, fate or misfortune). 

  • To carry (a football) down the field, as opposed to passing or kicking. 

  • Of an object, to have a liquid flowing from it. 

  • To print or broadcast in the media. 

  • To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation. 

  • To put at hazard; to venture; to risk. 

  • To be a candidate in an election. 

  • To fuse; to shape; to mould; to cast. 

  • To control or manage, be in charge of. 

  • To smuggle (illegal goods). 

  • To go at a fast pace; to move quickly. 

  • To extend in space or through a range (often with a measure phrase). 

  • To execute or carry out a plan, procedure, or program. 

  • To make run in a race. 

  • To transit a length of a river, as in whitewater rafting. 

  • To control or have precedence in a card game. 

  • To move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot. (Compare walk.) 

  • To leak or spread in an undesirable fashion; to bleed (especially used of dye or paint). 

  • To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing close-hauled. 

  • To exert continuous activity; to proceed. 

  • To sew (a seam) by passing the needle through material in a continuous line, generally taking a series of stitches on the needle at the same time. 

  • To become different in a way mentioned (usually to become worse). 

  • To cause to move quickly or lightly. 

  • To cause to enter; to thrust. 

  • To speedrun. 

  • To be in form thus, as a combination of words. 

  • To juggle a pattern continuously, as opposed to starting and stopping quickly. 

  • To move or spread quickly. 

  • To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control. 

  • To extend in time, to last, to continue (usually with a measure phrase). 

  • To make a machine operate. 

  • To become liquid; to melt. 

  • To make something extend in space. 

  • Of a machine, including computer programs, to be operating or working normally. 

  • To achieve or perform by running or as if by running. 

  • To pass (without stopping), typically a stop signal, stop sign, or duty to yield the right of way. 

  • To transport someone or something, notionally at a brisk pace. 

  • To be presented in the media. 

  • Of a means of transportation: to travel (a route). 

  • To cost a large amount of money. 

  • Of stitches or stitched clothing, to unravel. 

  • To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline. 

  • Of a liquid, to flow. 

  • To compete in a race. 

  • Of fish, to migrate for spawning. 

  • To make run in an election. 

  • To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven. 

  • To have growth or development. 

  • To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company. 

  • To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine. 

  • To flee from a danger or towards help. 

  • To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation. 

  • To encounter or incur (a danger or risk). 

  • To tease with sarcasms and ridicule. 

  • To make a liquid flow; to make liquid flow from or into an object. 

  • To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole. 

How often have the words brace and run occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )