From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbravebrave1 /breɪv/ ●●● S3 adjective (comparative braver, superlative bravest) 1 a) BRAVEdealing with danger, pain, or difficult situations with courage and confidence SYN courageous brave soldiers her brave fight against cancerit is brave of somebody (to do something) It was brave of you to speak in front of all those people. b) the brave [plural]BRAVE brave people Today we remember the brave who died in the last war.2 ALMOSTvery good Despite their captain’s brave performance, Arsenal lost 2–1.brave effort/attempt the brave efforts of the medical staff to save his life3 → put on a brave face/front4 → brave new world —bravely adverb She smiled bravely.THESAURUSbrave showing that you are not afraid to do things that other people find dangerous or difficultI think he was incredibly brave to do a parachute jump.a brave attempt to change the systemcourageous /kəˈreɪdʒəs/ especially written very brave – used especially about someone fighting for what they believe in, or fighting against a diseasea courageous speechher courageous fight against cancerdaring brave and willing to take a lot of risksa daring escape from a prison campa daring fighter pilota daring thing to dobold willing to make difficult decisions or say what you think, even though it may involve risksIt was a bold move to set up his own company.She was very bold in criticizing the leadership.intrepid written willing to do dangerous things or go to dangerous placesan intrepid travellerWe sent our intrepid reporter to find out what is happening.adventurous used about someone who enjoys going to new places and doing new, possibly dangerous, thingsMore adventurous visitors can go skiing or snowboarding.fearless not afraid of anything or anyonea fearless campaigner for human rightsheroic very brave and admired by many peopleheroic rescuersDespite heroic efforts to save him, he died.plucky brave and determined – often used in newspapersPlucky Megan, aged 10, has beaten cancer twice.
Examples from the Corpus
brave• I think you're very brave.• Rain sat there, thinking about Barbara Coleman, a woman who was both brave and pathetic.• No matter how hard I tried to be brave and strong, I couldn't stop myself from crying.• But lately she felt braver and stronger, and smarter.• The student company makes a brave effort at tackling the multiple roles.• It's a brave effort to compete with the big publishers.• These were the rugged and fearful places the men continually returned to in search of a skilled and brave enemy.• Her brave fight against cancer is an inspiration to us all.• But if your admiration went to Fowler, your hearts went out to Francis' brave First Division side.• Come on, be brave. Just grit your teeth and it will all be over in no time.• It was very brave of you to tell her the truth.• Fall through the platform, and unless you're either amazingly brave or stupid head down the wind tunnel to the left.• I wasn't sure if I was being brave or stupid.• a brave rescue attempt• He was brave, reverent, and clean, though perhaps lacking in the trustworthiness department.• You have to be very brave to be a fireman.brave effort/attempt• The student company makes a brave effort at tackling the multiple roles.• A brave attempt, but ruined by the fact that neither of the elements are really up to much.• A brave attempt, but spoiled by poor execution.• Hers was a brave effort for one who had to be whisked off to hospital on Tuesday after a painful accident.• All her brave effort had been for nothing.• The success of President Mohammad Khatami's brave attempt to democratize the country hangs in the balance.• More recently, the couple made a brave effort to live a normal life for the children.• Richard Body has made a brave attempt to shed the mythology and propaganda, and to expose farming objectives to public debate.bravebrave2 verb [transitive] 1 DEAL WITHto deal with a difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant situation I decided to take the train to work rather than brave the traffic.brave the elements/weather etc (=go out in bad weather) More than 100 people braved the elements and attended the rally.2 → brave it out→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
brave• Others brave danger in the Amazon.• Scrapbooks and bottles of paste and cutout articles of the young Dove braving gales in canoes, performing heroic acts.• Background: Workers willing to brave long commutes to New York for less-expensive housing are keeping the Philadelphia metro area suburbs alive.• King braved police truncheons, and was assassinated because of his beliefs.brave the elements/weather etc• I used to think that we Met girls were the only ones awake and having to brave the elements.• Despite the weather, however, 17 of them braved the elements to play the one round Stableford competition.• If you venture out in all weathers, you need a compact camera that can brave the elements, too.bravebrave3 noun [countable]SAN a young fighting man from a Native American tribeExamples from the Corpus
brave• Worth told the chief to send five of his braves to explain the new removal policy to his people.• The brave became a great chief, and he always took special care of his colt, which became a great horse.• Leading the charge against Luton on Saturday was one of the young braves, Joey Beauchamp.Origin brave1 (1400-1500) French Old Italian and Old Spanish bravo “brave, wild”, from Latin barbarus; → BARBAROUS 