Brake

1. (v.) imp. of Break.

2. (n.) 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.

3. (n.) A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.

4. (n.) An instrument or machine to break or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from the fiber.

5. (n.) An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.

6. (n.) A baker's kneading though.

7. (n.) A sharp bit or snaffle.

8. (n.) A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an enclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc.

9. (v. t.) That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.

10. (n.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.

11. (n.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag.

12. (n.) 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.

13. (n.) 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.

14. (n.) A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses.

15. (n.) An ancient instrument of torture.

16. (p. p.) of Break

Thesaurus Entries

arrest, backpedal, backwater, bar, bearing rein, bit, block, boscage, bosket, bring to, bring up short, canebrake, ceja, chain, chamisal, chaparral, check, checkmate, checkrein, chock, clip the wings, clog, constraint, control, coppice, copse, copsewood, countercheck, covert, curb, curb bit, cut short, dam, damper, deadlock, decelerate, delay, detain, doorstop, drag, drag sail, draw rein, drift anchor, drift sail, drogue, ease off, ease up, fetter, freeze, frith, halt, hold back, hold in check, hold up, holdback, impede, keep back, let down, let up, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, martingale, moderate, motte, obstruct, pelham, pull up, put paid to, reef, rein, rein in, relax, remora, restraint, restriction, retard, scotch, sea anchor, set back, shackle, slack off, slack up, slacken, slow, slow down, slow up, snaffle, spoke, stalemate, stall, stay, stem, stem the tide, stop, stop cold, stop dead, stop short, stymie, take in sail, thicket, thickset, throttle down, trammel