Meaning
Instantly, quickly, or in an extremely short amount of time, as of a task or event. “Brace,” taken from the old French for the arms’ breadth from hand to hand, means twice; the phrase as a whole refers either to an old nautical term, meaning the time it takes the sail to shake twice as it takes up the wind, or else the short time it takes to shake a dice-box twice. Often used in the phrase “in a brace of shakes.”
Examples
I’ll have that ready for you in a brace of shakes.
Origin
Synonyms
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does the idiom ‘brace of shakes’ mean?
The idiom ‘brace of shakes’ means “to deal with a difficult situation without being harmed or damaged”
How do you use ‘brace of shakes’ in a sentence?
Example usage of idiom ‘brace of shakes’: Newspapers have weathered the storm of online information by providing news online themselves.