mabano

How to say it

Meaning

Clamps, vises, or presses used to hold or squeeze something; in writing, the punctuation marks known as parentheses or brackets.

Good to know

Plural of bano (ji-/ma class, class 5/6). In everyday written Swahili, 'mabano' most commonly means the punctuation marks ( ).

Examples

• Fundi alitumia mabano kushikilia mbao pamoja.The carpenter used clamps to hold the boards together.
• Je, maneno haya yanapaswa kuwekwa kwenye mabano?Should these words be put in parentheses?
• Mabano hayo hayakubana vizuri bomba lile.Those clamps did not grip that pipe well.
• Mwandishi ataongeza maelezo kwenye mabano.The writer will add an explanation in parentheses.