Brad

Art term. These are hardware used in painting or framing. They are very much used in place of nails, as they are used to affix edges of canvas, or to hold an image inside of a frame. Sometimes they look like bent metal triangles, sometimes they look like very tiny nails.

Brad (?), n. [Cf.OE. brod, Dan. braad prick, sting, brodde ice spur, frost nail, Sw. brodd frost nail, Icel. broddr any pointed piece of iron or stell; akin to AS. brord point, spire of grass, and perh. to E. bristle. See Bristle, n.]

A thin nail, usually small, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head; also, a small wire nail, with a flat circular head; sometimes, a small, tapering, square-bodied finishing nail, with a countersunk head.

© Webster 1913.