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 eight-carriage train was travelling at about 65 mph when it derailed - within the 70mph speed limit - and the driver had begun to brake as the train approached the site.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

No gas station visits, no oil change, just tire rotation and a brake check.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

It was a planned move, kind of a Ricky Bobby “Shake and Bake,” forcing Niewiadoma-Phinney to brake and cool her momentum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

A "Walter Mitty character" who falsely claimed his luxury electric Jaguar had malfunctioned on the motorway and could not brake, forcing police to bring it to an emergency stop, has been jailed.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Nathan pushed the brake and shifted the gear to park.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

On the front brakes it just braked a lot more than what I thought and in the rear brakes there was no deceleration at all.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 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

Joe suddenly braked the truck, grabbed his .30-06 from the window rack, and banged open his door.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

We struggled with the engine braking corner to corner.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

In the end, I pushed like I was alone and I arrived at the braking point at the end of the straight, 320km/h, braked very hard and at the limit.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 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 it comes equipped with standard cruise control and modern safety features such as automatic emergency braking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Harry heard Griphook shout, “No!” but there was no braking: They zoomed through it.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• damper
• restraint