I.
archaic
past of break
II. ˈbrāk noun
or brake fern
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, fern, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Swedish brækne fern — more at bracken
1. : a fern of the genus Pteridium (as P. aquilinum ) having ternately compound fronds and roots, often growing several feet high, and used for making a beverage, for thatching, and for tanning
2. : a fern of the genus Pteris
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English braken, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, to brake flax, to break on the wheel; akin to Middle Dutch breken to break, Old English brecan — more at break
: to break (flax or hemp) with a brake
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Low German; akin to Old English brecan to break
1. : a toothed instrument or machine for separating out the fiber of flax or hemp by breaking up the woody parts
2. : a tool resembling scissors used by basket makers to peel the bark from willow stems
3. dialect : a large heavy harrow : drag
4. : a baker's kneading machine
5. : a machine for bending, flanging, folding, and forming sheet metal — called also cornice brake
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English
1. obsolete : a bridle with a powerful bit
2. : the handle of a pump ; especially : one long enough so that a number of men can unite in working the pump
3.
a. also break “
(1) : a device (as a block or band applied to the rim of a wheel) to arrest the motion of a vehicle, a machine, or other mechanism and usually employing some form of friction — often used in plural
to apply the brakes
— see air brake , emergency brake , friction brake , hydraulic brake , magnetic brake , service brake , vacuum brake
(2) : something designed or used to slow down or stop movement, momentum, or activity
the interest rate acting as a brake on expenditures
the government has applied the brakes on … horse players and other gamblers — Harry Levine
b. : the end man of a bobsled team who operates the brake
VI. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to retard or stop by or as if by a brake
brake a car
impulses being braked by inhibition — Fredric Wertham
intransitive verb
1. : to operate or manage a brake or brakes: as
a. : to act as a brakeman
retired after 40 years of braking
b. : to manage a winding or hoisting engine for a mine
2.
a. : to become checked by a brake
the car braked to a stop
b. : to apply a brake : slow up by applying the brake
the driver braked around curves
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English -brake, probably from Middle Low German brake; akin to Middle Low German breken to break, Old English brecan — more at break
: rough, broken, or marshy land thickly overgrown usually with one kind of plant
cedar brakes
the thick coastal brakes of the Olympia peninsula
— see canebrake
VIII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. obsolete : cage , trap , snare
2. : an ancient instrument of torture : rack
IX.
variant of break III