branks

American  

[brangks] / bræŋks /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. 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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branks British  

/ bræŋks /

plural noun

1. (formerly) an iron bridle used to restrain scolding women

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Etymology

Origin of branks

1585–95; perhaps to be identified with Middle English bernak “bridle, snaffle”; see barnacle ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

branks

Its parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, is responsible for state news agency RIA Novosti and news branks like Sputnik, CNN reported.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2024

At Market Drayton are two branks: one is the property of the Lord of the Manor, and the other formerly belonged to the Dodcot Union.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William

But if the beast an' branks be spar'd Till kye be gaun without the herd, And a' the vittel in the yard, An' theekit right, I mean your ingle-side to guard Ae winter night.

From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert

Dr. T. N. Brushfield described in an exhaustive manner all the Cheshire branks, in an able paper read before the Architectural, Archæological, and Historic Society of Chester, and published in 1858.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William

The branks in the two towns last named are alluded to by the celebrated Dr. Plot, the old historian of the county, in an amusing manner.

From Bygone Punishments by Andrews, William