brank

[ brangk ]

verb (used without object)

1. to hold up and toss the head, as a horse when spurning the bit or prancing.
2. to bridle; restrain.

Word History and Origins

Origin of brank¹

1500–50; brank ( def 1 ) of uncertain origin; possibly related to German prangen “to adorn oneself, brag”; compare Middle High German brangen, brankieren; possibly 1550-1600; brank ( def 2 ) of uncertain origin; probably a back formation from Scots branks “a bridle for restraining a scold”

Example Sentences

Brand and brank have passed away, the stocks and pillory no longer grace our village greens.

From Project Gutenberg

The brank, or imprisonment, or the pillory, was the sentence usually pronounced on these rebellious wives.

From Project Gutenberg

Staffordshire supplies several notable examples of the brank.

From Project Gutenberg

We find, in the same county, traces of the brank at Holme, in the Forest of Rossendale.

From Project Gutenberg

These cheeks correspond to the two parallel levers called the "branches" of a bridle, and brank is the Norman branque, branch.

From Project Gutenberg