Showing results for "brake"

• past tense form of break.

brake

¹ American  

[breyk] / breɪk /

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.

3. anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.

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

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

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

7. Obsolete. an old instrument of torture.

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verb (used with object)

braked, braking

1. to slow or stop by means of or as if by means of a brake.

   Synonyms:

   bridle, curb, restrain, stay, arrest, halt

2. to furnish with brakes.

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

verb (used without object)

braked, braking

1. to use or run a brake.

2. to stop or slow upon being braked.

3. to run a hoisting machine.

brake ² American  

[breyk] / breɪk /

noun

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

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brake ³ American  

[breyk] / breɪk /

noun

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

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brake ⁴ American  

[breyk] / breɪk /

verb

Archaic.

1. simple past tense of break.

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brake ¹ British  

/ breɪk /

noun

1. 1. (often plural) a device for slowing or stopping a vehicle, wheel, shaft, etc, or for keeping it stationary, esp by means of friction See also drum brake disc brake hydraulic brake air brake handbrake

   2. ( as modifier )

      the brake pedal

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

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

4. short for brake van

5. short for shooting brake

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

7. an obsolete word for rack 1

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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

brake ² British  

/ breɪk /

noun

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

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brake ³ British  

/ breɪk /

noun

1. another name for bracken See also rock brake

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brake ⁴ British  

/ breɪk /

verb

1. archaic a past tense of break

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Other Word Forms

• brakeless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of brake¹

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

Origin of brake²

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”

Origin of brake³

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

Explanation

To brake is to stop. The noun brake is the pedal in the car that stops the vehicle when pressed. When you want to brake, step on the brake)! In Middle English breken meant things that stopped others, such as a bridle for a horse. If your bicycle screeches at the bottom of every hill, maybe you should have the brakes checked. French Poet Paul Valery saw a brake as a stopping agent for more than just a vehicle: “Man's great misfortune is that he has no organ, no kind of eyelid or brake, to mask or block a thought, or all thought, when he wants to.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brake braked braking

The aircraft hit the sand and rolled for about 100 feet before Mike made a hard turn, forcing the aircraft to brake and enabling the pair to emerge unscathed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

April’s reading was the lowest since May 2020, a time of pandemic lockdowns that put a brake on the economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

This process acted as a natural brake on warming for millions of years and helped move Earth toward its present cooler climate.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

Just a few days earlier, U.S. regulators proposed nixing rules requiring manual brake pedals in autonomous vehicles.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

The engineer in the pit released the brake and engaged the drive gears.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

But 350kw once the driver has lifted and/or braked.

From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026

The car braked, steered and accelerated more smoothly than my Ford Mustang Mach-E.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

When she braked, a third agent became visible standing in front of the car.

From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2026

An 8-year-old Labrador mix, Trevor, had escaped his owner’s yard and ran into the street in front of a Waymo, which braked suddenly, KCAL-TV reported.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025

Stick braked the car and turned to me.

From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon

Since regenerative braking lets you drive with just the accelerator pedal, I go days without ever touching the brake pedal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Federal regulators are currently weighing a mandate for emergency braking systems in vehicles more than 10,000 pounds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

But the lack of braking points means the cars will be energy starved this year, so will be running with not much more than half the engines' full power at key points of the track.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

But it comes equipped with standard cruise control and modern safety features such as automatic emergency braking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Wildly, Alfred bolted across the street, side-stepping a taxicab by inches, ignoring the horns and curses of braking drivers.

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

Related Words

• damper
• restraint