brake

1
[ breyk ]
See synonyms for brake on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a device for slowing or stopping a vehicle or other moving mechanism by the absorption or transfer of the energy of momentum, usually by means of friction.

  2. brakes, the drums, shoes, tubes, levers, etc., making up such a device on a vehicle.

  1. anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.

  2. Also called brakeman. a member of a bobsled team who operates the brake.

  3. Also called breaker. Textiles. a tool or machine for breaking up flax or hemp, to separate the fiber.

  4. Also called press brake . a machine for bending sheet metal to a desired shape.

  5. Obsolete. an old instrument of torture.

verb (used with object),braked, brak·ing.
  1. to slow or stop by means of or as if by means of a brake.

  2. to furnish with brakes.

  1. to process (flax or hemp) by crushing it in a brake.

verb (used without object),braked, brak·ing.
  1. to use or run a brake.

  2. to stop or slow upon being braked.

  1. to run a hoisting machine.

Origin of brake

1
First recorded in 1400–50; of uncertain origin; possibly a special use of obsolete brake “a bridle, curb,” from Middle Dutch braeke “(flax) brake” (a tool that separates flax fibers from their woody stems); akin to break

Other words for brake

Other words from brake

  • brake·less, adjective

Words Nearby brake

Other definitions for brake (2 of 4)

brake2
[ breyk ]

noun
  1. a place overgrown with bushes, brambles, or cane.

Origin of brake

2
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English fernebrake “fern thicket, fernbrake,” Old English (fearn)bracu “bed of fern, (fern)brake,” akin to Middle Low German brake “branch, twig, tree stump”

Other definitions for brake (3 of 4)

brake3
[ breyk ]

noun
  1. any of several large or coarse ferns, especially the bracken, Pteridium aquilinum.

Origin of brake

3
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English brake, probably by back formation from braken “thicket of fern,” taken as plural; see bracken

Other definitions for brake (4 of 4)

brake4
[ breyk ]

verbArchaic.
  1. simple past tense of break.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use brake in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brake (1 of 4)

brake1

/ (breɪk) /


noun
  1. a machine or tool for crushing or breaking flax or hemp to separate the fibres

  1. Also called: brake harrow a heavy harrow for breaking up clods

  2. short for brake van

  3. short for shooting brake

  4. an open four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage: Also spelt: break

  5. an obsolete word for rack 1 (def. 4)

verb
  1. to slow down or cause to slow down, by or as if by using a brake

  2. (tr) to crush or break up using a brake

Origin of brake

1
C18: from Middle Dutch braeke; related to breken to break

Derived forms of brake

  • brakeless, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for brake (2 of 4)

brake2

/ (breɪk) /


noun
  1. an area of dense undergrowth, shrubs, brushwood, etc; thicket

Origin of brake

2
Old English bracu; related to Middle Low German brake, Old French bracon branch

British Dictionary definitions for brake (3 of 4)

brake3

/ (breɪk) /


noun
  1. another name for bracken (def. 1) See also rock brake

British Dictionary definitions for brake (4 of 4)

brake4

/ (breɪk) /


verb
  1. archaic, mainly biblical a past tense of break

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012