branks

[ brangks ]

/ bræŋks /

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noun (used with a plural verb)

Sometimes brank . a device consisting of a headpiece with a flat, iron bit to restrain the tongue, formerly used to punish scolds.

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Origin of branks

1585–95; perhaps to be identified with Middle English bernak “bridle, snaffle”; see barnacle²

Words nearby branks

Brandywine, Branford, brangle, Brangus, brank, branks, branle, brannigan, branny, Branson, brant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use branks in a sentence

If that did not stop the rancour of their tongues he tried the effect of an instrument called the "branks."
The Life of a Celebrated Buccaneer|Richard Clynton
I'll be in Dumfries the morn gif the beast be to the fore, and the branks bide hale.
The Letters of Robert Burns|Robert Burns
An uncomfortable bridle which used to be employed to silence scolds was called the branks.
The Romance of Words (4th ed.)|Ernest Weekley
The branks was a species of iron mask, with a gag so contrived as to enter the mouth and forcibly hold down the unruly member.
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 1/2|Arthur Griffiths

The brutality of the stronger and governing to the weaker and subject sex was not limited to the ducking-stool and branks.
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 1/2|Arthur Griffiths

British Dictionary definitions for branks

branks

/ (bræŋks) /

pl n

(formerly) an iron bridle used to restrain scolding women

Word Origin for branks

C16: of unknown origin

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