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

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 Robert Burns

It belongs to a class of engines far more formidable than branks.

From Bygone Punishments by William Andrews

It was harnessed in the most simple manner, with a pair of branks, a hair tether, or halter, and a sunk, or cushion of straw, instead of bridle and saddle.

From Old Mortality, Volume 1. by Sir Walter Scott

Mr. Andrews, in the book referred to, gives engravings of a dozen or more different kinds of branks and bridles which can now be seen in England and Scotland.

From The Olden Time Series, Vol. 5: Some Strange and Curious Punishments Gleanings Chiefly from Old Newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts by Henry M. (Henry Mason) Brooks