BRAKE

see: break II. noun Etymology: Middle English, fern, probably back-formation from ~n bracken Date: 14th century the common bracken fern ( Pteridium aquilinum ), III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Low German; akin to Old English brecan to break Date: 15th century a toothed instrument or machine for separating out the fiber of flax or hemp by breaking up the woody parts, a machine for bending, flanging, folding, and forming sheet metal, IV. noun Etymology: Middle English -~ Date: 1562 rough or marshy land overgrown usually with one kind of plant, braky adjective V. noun Etymology: perhaps from obsolete ~ bridle Date: circa 1782 a device for arresting or preventing the motion of a mechanism usually by means of friction, something used to slow down or stop movement or activity , ~less adjective VI. verb (~d; braking) Date: 1868 transitive verb to retard or stop by or as if by a ~, intransitive verb to operate or manage a ~, to become checked by a ~