As a Noun: 1. A pair of written marks, such as ( ), that you place around a word, expression or sentence in order to indicate that you are giving extra information. English = bracket, brackets, parenthesis, parentheses. As a Verb or Adjective: 1. To place brackets or parentheses around a word, expression or sentence. English = bracket. As Modifier: 1. Used at the beginning of a sentence to mean that what follows is extra, perhaps confidential, information. English = by the way, just as an aside (and keep quiet about it). 2. Used when reading out an English text into an Auslan-based English-like form of signing to show that a given piece of text is written in between parentheses.