brace

English translation: a metal device for holding and compressing the body in a painful position

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:brace
Selected answer:a metal device for holding and compressing the body in a painful position
Entered by: Charles Davis

19:07 Mar 22, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: brace
Hello,

I wonder what "brace" could mean here: some kind of ironmongery to hold the victim OR a drilling tool (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brace_(tool)) to bore holes in the victim? What would be your first guess?

"He plotted their ends, again and again. He saw the racks and the pincers, the flames and the braces. He heard their screams and their pleas. In the lower chambers of his mind, he saw the gobbets of flesh and gouts of blood and rivers of tears he would extract from them before he allowed them to die"

Source: Jack of Shadows by R. Zelazny (a U. S. writer). Wider context: a fantasy novel with dark medieval setting

Thanks!
Denys Dömin
Ukraine
Local time: 07:41
a metal device for holding and compressing the body in a painful position
Explanation:
I take the other view. I am not, and have no wish to be, an expert on torture instruments, but I don't remember reading references to drilling holes in people as a medieval torture, though no doubt it would be painful. And a drilling brace alone is no use for that without a drill bit. We had one of these at home when I was a child; my father called it a brace and bit. "Brace" alone in that sense seems to me an unlikely item to mention, compared to the others (racks, pincers and flames).

I think it refers to your other suggestion, a metal device for holding someone in an uncomfortable position that gradually becomes intolerably agonising. One such instrument was the cicogna ("stork" in English), apparently devised and used by the Roman Inquisition; there are illustrations of this online. A variant, devised in the reign of Henry VIII, was the "scavenger's daughter" or "iron brace", used in the Tower of London. Henry VIII himself owned one, it seems; it's described as an "A-shaped iron brace, inside of which a victim would be made to sit in a crouched position, with their head almost touching their knees, and their wrists, ankles, and neck shackled in place".
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64629/9-bizarre-objects-owned...

It's the opposite to the rack, in a sense: instead of stretching the body, it compresses it.

There are also neck braces described in some places, with spikes inside. Urgh.

I find this kind of thing very unpleasant and don't want to cite any more references. But I would say that a device of this kind is most likely to be what your text is referring to.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 06:41
Grading comment
Many thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +5a metal device for holding and compressing the body in a painful position
Charles Davis
4 +1drilling tool
philgoddard
3 -2metal brackets/wires
Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
drilling tool


Explanation:
We can't be sure, of course, but I think this is the most likely meaning. It's slightly careless writing, because you have to stop reading for a moment to work out what he's talking about.

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Note added at 8 mins (2019-03-22 19:15:56 GMT)
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He could have said drilling braces, or just drills.

philgoddard
United States
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 50
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks a lot for your opinion!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: 'brace' is the proper term for the tool, which uses 'drills' (the actual cutting bits); in olden times we'd talk about using a 'brace and bit'
52 mins

neutral  B D Finch: I think that a "brace and bit" is the drilling tool. The brace part is a very specific sort of drill where the two ends are held steady by compression (braced), while the bent central part can be turned and the distance from the axis provides leverage.
2 days 17 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -2
metal brackets/wires


Explanation:
My opinion.

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 00:41
Does not meet criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Yvonne Gallagher: Look at Context?
2 hrs

disagree  B D Finch: What is your opinion based upon? It doesn't seem to fit any definition of the word "brace" that I'm aware of.
2 days 16 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
a metal device for holding and compressing the body in a painful position


Explanation:
I take the other view. I am not, and have no wish to be, an expert on torture instruments, but I don't remember reading references to drilling holes in people as a medieval torture, though no doubt it would be painful. And a drilling brace alone is no use for that without a drill bit. We had one of these at home when I was a child; my father called it a brace and bit. "Brace" alone in that sense seems to me an unlikely item to mention, compared to the others (racks, pincers and flames).

I think it refers to your other suggestion, a metal device for holding someone in an uncomfortable position that gradually becomes intolerably agonising. One such instrument was the cicogna ("stork" in English), apparently devised and used by the Roman Inquisition; there are illustrations of this online. A variant, devised in the reign of Henry VIII, was the "scavenger's daughter" or "iron brace", used in the Tower of London. Henry VIII himself owned one, it seems; it's described as an "A-shaped iron brace, inside of which a victim would be made to sit in a crouched position, with their head almost touching their knees, and their wrists, ankles, and neck shackled in place".
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64629/9-bizarre-objects-owned...

It's the opposite to the rack, in a sense: instead of stretching the body, it compresses it.

There are also neck braces described in some places, with spikes inside. Urgh.

I find this kind of thing very unpleasant and don't want to cite any more references. But I would say that a device of this kind is most likely to be what your text is referring to.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 06:41
Meets criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 236
Grading comment
Many thanks!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helena Chavarria: I agree. The first part refers to the holding down structure (racks) and the weapon (pincers), and the second part is the same: flames (weapon) structure (brace). Anyway, it must be difficult to bore holes surrounded by flames!
50 mins
  -> Many thanks, Helena :-) Yes, that makes sense to me too.

agree  Yvonne Gallagher: With Helena also (BTW wonder if "brace yourself" stems from this?
1 hr
  -> Many thanks, Yvonne :-) // Maybe... not a pleasant thought!

agree  Hilary McGrath
15 hrs
  -> Many thanks, Hilary :-)

agree  Björn Vrooman: Yes, here is a neck brace: http://torturemuseum.net/en/neck-traps To answer Yvonne's Q, see the last lines on this page (a helpful glossary when I was still studying): https://www.etymonline.com/word/brace
21 hrs
  -> Many thanks, Björn! I use that site too (though I didn't bother to check "brace oneself").

agree  B D Finch
2 days 16 hrs
  -> Thanks, Barbara!
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