brake
brake (brāk)
noun
Etymology: ME; prob. taken as sing. of bracken
brake (brāk)
noun
- a toothed implement for beating or crushing flax or hemp so that the fiber can be separated
- a heavy harrow for breaking up clods of earth
- a handle or lever on a machine a pump brake
- a machine for turning or bending the edges of sheet metal
- any device for slowing or stopping the motion of a vehicle or machine, as by causing a block, shoe, or band to press against a moving part
- anything that slows down or stops motion or progress
- Obsolete the rack, former instrument of torture
Etymology: ME < MLowG brake or ODu braeke, flax brake < breken, to break; senses 2-6 variously infl. by OFr brac (form of bras, an arm) & break
transitive verb braked, braking brak′·ing
- to break up (flax, clods of earth, etc.) into smaller pieces
- to slow down or stop with or as with a brake
intransitive verb
- ☆ to operate a brake or brakes
- to be slowed down or stopped by a brake
Related Forms:
- brakeless brake′·less adjective
brake (brāk)
noun
Etymology: < or akin to MLowG brake, stumps, broken branches, akin to OE brecan, to break
brake (brāk)
transitive verb, intransitive verb
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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