Adjacent Words

Brake definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BRAKE, pp. of break. [See Break.]
BRAKE, n. [L. erica; Gr. to break.]
1. Brake is a name given to fern, or rather to the female fern, a species of cryptogamian plants, of the genus Pteris, whose fructification is in lines under the margin of the leaf or frond.
2. A place overgrown with brake.
3. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles.
4. In the U. States, a thicket of canes, as a cane-brake; but I believe used only in composition.
BRAKE, n. [See Break.] An instrument to break flax or hemp.
1. The handle or lever by which a pump is worked; that is, brac, brachium, an arm.
2. A baker's kneading trough.
3. A sharp bit, or snaffle.
4. A machine for confining refractory horses, while the smith is shoeing them.
5. That part of the carriage of a movable battery or engine which enables it to turn.
6. A large heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; called also a drag.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a restraint used to slow or stop a vehicle
2: any of various ferns of the genus Pteris having pinnately compound leaves and including several popular houseplants
3: large coarse fern often several feet high; essentially weed ferns; cosmopolitan [syn: bracken, pasture brake, brake, Pteridium aquilinum]
4: an area thickly overgrown usually with one kind of plant
5: anything that slows or hinders a process; "she wan not ready to put the brakes on her life with a marriage"; "new legislation will put the brakes on spending" v
1: stop travelling by applying a brake; "We had to brake suddenly when a chicken crossed the road"
2: cause to stop by applying the brakes; "brake the car before you go into a curve"

Merriam Webster's

I. archaic past of break II. noun Etymology: Middle English, fern, probably back-formation from braken bracken Date: 14th century the common bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Low German; akin to Old English brecan to break Date: 15th century 1. a toothed instrument or machine for separating out the fiber of flax or hemp by breaking up the woody parts 2. a machine for bending, flanging, folding, and forming sheet metal IV. noun Etymology: Middle English -brake Date: 1562 rough or marshy land overgrown usually with one kind of plant • braky adjective V. noun Etymology: perhaps from obsolete brake bridle Date: circa 1782 1. a device for arresting or preventing the motion of a mechanism usually by means of friction 2. something used to slow down or stop movement or activity <use interest rates as a brake on spending> • brakeless adjective VI. verb (braked; braking) Date: 1868 transitive verb to retard or stop by or as if by a brake intransitive verb 1. to operate or manage a brake; especially to apply the brake on a vehicle 2. to become checked by a brake

Britannica Concise

Device for decreasing the speed of a body or stopping its motion. Most brakes act on rotating mechanical elements and absorb kinetic energy mechanically, hydrodynamically, or electrically. Mechanical brakes are the most common; they dissipate the kinetic energy as heat generated by mechanical friction between a rotating drum or disk and a stationary friction element. A hydrodynamic (fluid) brake has a rotor (rotating element) and a stator (stationary element). Resistance to rotation is created by fluid friction and circulation of the liquid (usually water) from a series of pockets in the rotor to a series of complementary pockets in the stator. See also air brake.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 (often in pl.) a device for checking the motion of a mechanism, esp. a wheel or vehicle, or for keeping it at rest. 2 anything that has the effect of hindering or impeding (shortage of money was a brake on their enthusiasm). --v. 1 intr. apply a brake. 2 tr. retard or stop with a brake. Phrases and idioms: brake block a block used to hold a brake shoe. brake drum a cylinder attached to a wheel on which the brake shoe presses to brake. brake fluid fluid used in a hydraulic brake system. brake horsepower the power of an engine reckoned in terms of the force needed to brake it. brake lining a strip of fabric which increases the friction of the brake shoe. brake shoe a long curved block which presses on the brake drum to brake. brake van Brit. a railway coach or vehicle from which the train's brakes can be controlled. Derivatives: brakeless adj. Etymology: prob. obs. brake in sense 'machine-handle, bridle' 2. n. a large estate car. Etymology: var. of BREAK(2) 3. n. & v. --n. 1 a toothed instrument used for crushing flax and hemp. 2 (in full brake harrow) a heavy kind of harrow for breaking up large lumps of earth. --v.tr. crush (flax or hemp) by beating it. Etymology: ME, rel. to BREAK(1) 4. n. 1 a thicket. 2 brushwood. Etymology: ME f. OF bracu, MLG brake branch, stump 5. n. bracken. Etymology: ME, perh. shortened f. BRACKEN, -en being taken as a pl. ending 6. archaic past of BREAK(1).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brake Brake (br[=a]k), imp. of Break. [Arhaic] --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brake Brake, n. [OE. brake fern; cf. AS. bracce fern, LG. brake willow bush, Da. bregne fern, G. brach fallow; prob. orig. the growth on rough, broken ground, fr. the root of E. break. See Break, v. t., cf. Bracken, and 2d Brake, n.] 1. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the P. aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern. 2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes. Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough, To shelter thee from tempest and from rain. --Shak. He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone. --Sir W. Scott. Cane brake, a thicket of canes. See Canebrake.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brake Brake (br[=a]k), n. [OE. brake; cf. LG. brake an instrument for breaking flax, G. breche, fr. the root of E. break. See Break, v. t., and cf. Breach.] 1. An instrument or machine to break or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from the fiber. 2. An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine. 3. A baker's kneading though. --Johnson. 4. A sharp bit or snaffle. Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit. --Gascoigne. 5. A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc. A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars. --J. Brende. 6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn. 7. (Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista. 8. (Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag. 9. A piece of mechanism for retarding or stopping motion by friction, as of a carriage or railway car, by the pressure of rubbers against the wheels, or of clogs or ratchets against the track or roadway, or of a pivoted lever against a wheel or drum in a machine. 10. (Engin.) An apparatus for testing the power of a steam engine, or other motor, by weighing the amount of friction that the motor will overcome; a friction brake. 11. A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses. 12. An ancient instrument of torture. --Holinshed. Air brake. See Air brake, in the Vocabulary. Brake beam or Brake bar, the beam that connects the brake blocks of opposite wheels. Brake block. (a) The part of a brake holding the brake shoe. (b) A brake shoe. Brake shoe or Brake rubber, the part of a brake against which the wheel rubs. Brake wheel, a wheel on the platform or top of a car by which brakes are operated. Continuous brake . See under Continuous.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Break Break, v. t. [imp. broke, (Obs. Brake); p. p. Broken, (Obs. Broke); p. pr. & vb. n. Breaking.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka, br["a]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. Bray to pound, Breach, Fragile.] 1. To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock. --Shak. 2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods. 3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate. Katharine, break thy mind to me. --Shak. 4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise. Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. --Milton 5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey. Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore. --Shak. 6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set. 7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares. 8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments. The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity. --Prescott. 9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill. 10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax. 11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind. An old man, broken with the storms of state. --Shak. 12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow. I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall. --Dryden. 13. To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend. 14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle. ``To break a colt.'' --Spenser. Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute? --Shak. 15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin. With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks. --Dryden. 16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss. I see a great officer broken. --Swift. Note: With prepositions or adverbs: To break down. (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition. (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. To break in. (a) To force in; as, to break in a door. (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in. To break of, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break one of a habit. To break off. (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig. (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. ``Break off thy sins by righteousness.'' --Dan. iv. 27. To break open, to open by breaking. ``Open the door, or I will break it open.'' --Shak. To break out, to take or force out by breaking; as, to break out a pane of glass. To break out a cargo, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it easily. To break through. (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to break through the enemy's lines; to break through the ice. (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. To break up. (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). ``Break up this capon.'' --Shak. ``Break up your fallow ground.'' --Jer. iv. 3. (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. ``Break up the court.'' --Shak. To break (one) all up, to unsettle or disconcert completely; to upset. [Colloq.] Note: With an immediate object: To break the back. (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally. (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the back of a difficult undertaking. To break bulk, to destroy the entirety of a load by removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to transfer in detail, as from boats to cars. To break cover, to burst forth from a protecting concealment, as game when hunted. To break a deer or stag, to cut it up and apportion the parts among those entitled to a share. To break fast, to partake of food after abstinence. See Breakfast. To break ground. (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence excavation, as for building, siege operations, and the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a canal, or a railroad. (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan. (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom. To break the heart, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief. To break a house (Law), to remove or set aside with violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of the fastenings provided to secure it. To break the ice, to get through first difficulties; to overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a subject. To break jail, to escape from confinement in jail, usually by forcible means. To break a jest, to utter a jest. ``Patroclus . . . the livelong day breaks scurril jests.'' --Shak. To break joints, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc., so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with those in the preceding course. To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest. To break the neck, to dislocate the joints of the neck. To break no squares, to create no trouble. [Obs.] To break a path, road, etc., to open a way through obstacles by force or labor. To break upon a wheel, to execute or torture, as a criminal by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly employed in some countries. To break wind, to give vent to wind from the anus. Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate; infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(brakes, braking, braked) 1. Brakes are devices in a vehicle that make it go slower or stop. The brakes began locking... A seagull swooped down in front of her car, causing her to slam on the brakes. N-COUNT 2. When a vehicle or its driver brakes, or when a driver brakes a vehicle, the driver makes it slow down or stop by using the brakes. She braked sharply to avoid another car... He lit a cigarette and braked the car slightly... She braked to a halt and switched off. VERB: V, V n, V to n, also V n to n 3. You can use brake in a number of expressions to indicate that something has slowed down or stopped. Illness had put a brake on his progress... N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Fern (Pteris aquilina). 2. Thicket, brushwood, jungle.

Moby Thesaurus

arrest, backpedal, backwater, bar, bearing rein, bit, block, boscage, bosket, bring to, bring up short, canebrake, ceja, chain, chamisal, chaparral, check, checkmate, checkrein, chock, clip the wings, clog, constraint, control, coppice, copse, copsewood, countercheck, covert, curb, curb bit, cut short, dam, damper, deadlock, decelerate, delay, detain, doorstop, drag, drag sail, draw rein, drift anchor, drift sail, drogue, ease off, ease up, fetter, freeze, frith, halt, hold back, hold in check, hold up, holdback, impede, keep back, let down, let up, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, martingale, moderate, motte, obstruct, pelham, pull up, put paid to, reef, rein, rein in, relax, remora, restraint, restriction, retard, scotch, sea anchor, set back, shackle, slack off, slack up, slacken, slow, slow down, slow up, snaffle, spoke, stalemate, stall, stay, stem, stem the tide, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop short, stymie, take in sail, thicket, thickset, throttle down, trammel