brake

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: brāk, IPA(key): /bɹeɪk/ Rhymes: -eɪk Homophone: break === Etymology 1 === Origin uncertain; possibly from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German brake (“nose ring, curb, flax brake”), which according to Watkins is related to sense 4 and from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). ==== Alternative forms ==== break (rare) ==== Noun ==== brake (plural brakes) A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car. [from 18th c.] The act of braking, of using a brake to slow down a machine or vehicle (engineering) 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. (figuratively) Something used to retard or stop some action, process etc. (military) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista. (obsolete) The winch of a crossbow. [14th–19th c.] (chiefly nautical) The handle of a pump. Synonym: swipe A baker’s kneading trough. A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal. Coordinate term: chute A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing it. Synonym: trave An enclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc. 1868, March 7, The Illustrated London News, number 1472, volume 52, “Law and Police”, page 223: He was shooting, and the field where the [cock-fighting] ring was verged on the shooting-brake where the rabbits were. A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses.W A carriage for transporting shooting parties and their equipment.W That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Japanese: ブレーキ (burēki) → Korean: 브레이크 (beureikeu) → Portuguese: breque → Swahili: breki → Thai: เบรก (brèek) → Welsh: brêc ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== brake (third-person singular simple present brakes, present participle braking, simple past and past participle braked) (intransitive) To operate a brake or brakes. (intransitive) To be stopped or slowed (as if) by braking. ===== Synonyms ===== (to be stopped or slowed (as if) by braking): See also Thesaurus:stop ===== Antonyms ===== (antonym(s) of “to operate brakes”): floor it, put the pedal to the metal, redline (antonym(s) of “to be stopped or slowed (as if) by braking”): accelerate ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Apparently a shortened form of bracken. (Compare chick, chicken.) ==== Noun ==== brake (countable and uncountable, plural brakes) Certain ferns, including Any fern in the genus Pteris. Bracken (Pteridium spp.). [from 14th c.] ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === From Old English *bracu, attested in a plural compound form fearnbraca (“thickets of fern”), probably from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”) and influenced by sense 2 (“fern”). Compare Middle Low German brake (“stump, branch”). ==== Noun ==== brake (plural brakes) A thicket, or an area overgrown with briers etc. [from 15th c.] ===== Derived terms ===== cypress brake canebrake fernbrake ===== Translations ===== ==== References ==== James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Brake”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC. “brake”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN. === Etymology 4 === Late Middle English, from Middle Low German brake, Dutch braak, Old Dutch braeke; possibly related to sense 1. ==== Noun ==== brake (plural brakes) A type of machine for bending sheet metal. (See wikipedia.) (agriculture) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods of earth after ploughing; a drag. (textiles) A tool used for breaking flax or hemp. [from 15th c.] Synonym: (obsolete, rare) cataract ===== Related terms ===== (textiles) hackle, ripple, scutch, swingle ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== brake (third-person singular simple present brakes, present participle braking, simple past and past participle braked) (transitive) To bruise and crush; to knead. (transitive) To pulverise with a harrow. ===== Derived terms ===== brakeage ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 5 === Uncertain. ==== Noun ==== brake (plural brakes) (obsolete) A cage. [16th–17th c.] (now historical) A type of torture instrument. [from 16th c.] === Etymology 6 === Inflected forms. ==== Verb ==== brake (archaic) simple past of break ==== References ==== “brake”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === Abrek, Baker, baker, barke, break == Dutch == === Pronunciation === === Verb === brake (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of breken (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of braken === Anagrams === baker == Yola == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /braːk/ === Verb === brake simple past of brough === References === Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 114