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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.

branks British  
/ bræŋks /

plural noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of branks

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.