brank

American  

[brangk] / bræŋk /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of brank

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

At the north country town of Morpeth a brank is still preserved.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William

The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities at Edinburgh, the towns of Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Leicester and Chester have examples of the brank.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various

Let me here refer for a moment to the "brank."

From Chapters in the History of the Insane in the British Isles by Tuke, Daniel Hack

The mode of putting it on would be thus: The brank would be opened by throwing back the sides of the hoop, and the hinder part of the top band by means of the hinges.

From Curious Punishments of Bygone Days by Earle, Alice Morse

No historical particulars are known respecting this grotesque brank.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William