Brake (brāk), imp. of
Break. [Arhaic] Tennyson.
Brake, n. [OE. brake fern; cf. AS.
bracce fern, LG. brake willow bush, Da. bregne fern,
G. brach fallow; prob. orig. the growth on rough, broken ground, fr.
the root of E. break. See Break, v. t., cf.
Bracken, and 2d Brake, n.]
1. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Pteris,
esp. the P. aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has
solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any
fern.
2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and
brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest and from rain.
Shak.
He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for
stone.
Sir W. Scott.
Cane brake, a thicket of canes. See
Canebrake.
Brake (brāk), n. [OE. brake; cf.
LG. brake an instrument for breaking flax, G. breche, fr. the
root of E. break. See Break, v. t., and cf.
Breach.] 1. An instrument or machine to break
or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from
the fiber.
2. An extended handle by means of which a number of
men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
3. A baker's kneading though.
Johnson.
4. A sharp bit or snaffle.
Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor
bit.
Gascoigne.
5. A frame for confining a refractory horse while
the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses,
etc.
A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of
his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars.
J. Brende.
6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable
battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
7. (Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous
to the crossbow and ballista.
8. (Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for
breaking clods after plowing; a drag.
9. A piece of mechanism for retarding or stopping
motion by friction, as of a carriage or railway car, by the pressure of
rubbers against the wheels, or of clogs or ratchets against the track or
roadway, or of a pivoted lever against a wheel or drum in a
machine.
10. (Engin.) An apparatus for testing the
power of a steam engine, or other motor, by weighing the amount of friction
that the motor will overcome; a friction brake.
11. A cart or carriage without a body, used in
breaking in horses.
12. An ancient instrument of torture.
Holinshed.
Air brake. See Air brake, in the
Vocabulary. -- Brake beam or Brake
bar, the beam that connects the brake blocks of opposite
wheels. -- Brake block. (a) The
part of a brake holding the brake shoe. (b) A
brake shoe. -- Brake shoe or Brake
rubber, the part of a brake against which the wheel
rubs. -- Brake wheel, a wheel on the platform or
top of a car by which brakes are operated. -- Continuous
brake . See under Continuous.
