A bandage is a strip of cloth wrapped around a wound or an injured part of the body. The same word works as a verb: bandage a wrist. A support belt or device that holds a joint or your back in place is a brace or a support: a knee brace, a back support.
bandage: will you get the meaning right?
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wrap a bandage around + body part; a bandage on + body part; bandage + body part (verb); change the bandage; an elastic bandage
- After the fall, she had a bandage on her knee for almost two weeks.
- He twisted his ankle on the hike, so we bandaged it tightly and walked back slowly.
- Keep the bandage dry and change it every morning for a week.
What changed
First versionAfter the surgery, my doctor told me to wear a bandage for a month to support my back.
RevisionAfter the surgery, my doctor told me to wear a brace for a month to support my back.
In some languages, a word like bandage means a support belt, so wear a bandage seems natural. But a bandage only wraps a wound or an injury. A device that holds your back, knee or wrist in place is a brace. A support for pregnant women is a maternity belt or support belt.
A small sticky strip for a cut is called a plaster in British English: Have you got a plaster? I've cut my finger. In American English it's a Band-Aid or also a bandage, so in the US bandage can mean a plaster too.
Your turn
The nurse cleaned the deep cut on my arm and wrapped a ___ around it.
Show the answer
bandage — A deep cut is wrapped in a bandage, and the verb wrapped goes with it. A brace is a rigid support for a joint or your back, and you don't dress a wound with it.
Write about a minor injury, yours or someone else's. Say what was hurt and who put the bandage on.
When my brother twisted his ankle at football practice, the coach wrapped a bandage around it and drove him home.
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