Dictionary
brake
Pronunciation: (brāk), [key]
—n., v., braked, brak•ing.
—
n.
1. 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.
2. brakes,the drums, shoes, tubes, levers, etc., making up such a device on a vehicle.
3. anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.
4. Also called
brakeman. a member of a bobsled team who operates the brake.
5. Also called
breaker. a tool or machine for breaking up flax or hemp, to separate the fiber.
6. Also called
press brake. a machine for bending sheet metal to a desired shape.
7. Obs.an old instrument of torture.
—
v.t.
1. to slow or stop by means of or as if by means of a brake.
2. to furnish with brakes.
3. to process (flax or hemp) by crushing it in a brake.
—
v.i.
1. to use or run a brake.
2. to stop or slow upon being braked.
3. 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
break. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
