brake
Pronunciation: (brāk), [key]
— n., v., braked, brak•ing.
—n.
- a device for slowing or stopping a vehicle or other moving mechanism by the absorption or transfer of the energy of momentum, usually by means of friction.
- the drums, shoes, tubes, levers, etc., making up such a device on a vehicle.
- anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.
- Also calleda member of a bobsled team who operates the brake.
- Also calleda tool or machine for breaking up flax or hemp, to separate the fiber.
- Also calleda machine for bending sheet metal to a desired shape.
- an old instrument of torture.
—v.t.
- to slow or stop by means of or as if by means of a brake.
- to furnish with brakes.
- to process (flax or hemp) by crushing it in a brake.
—v.i.
- to use or run a brake.
- to stop or slow upon being braked.
- to run a hoisting machine.
brake
Pronunciation: (brāk), [key]
— n.
- a place overgrown with bushes, brambles, or cane.
brake
Pronunciation: (brāk), [key]
— n.
- any of several large or coarse ferns, esp. the bracken, Pteridium aquilinum.
brake
Pronunciation: (brāk), [key]
— v. Archaic.
- pt. of
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.