brak

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the Pteris aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
To shelter thee from tempest and from rain. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cane brake, a thicket of canes. See Canebrake. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A baker's kneading though. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A sharp bit or snaffle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit. Gascoigne. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars. J. Brende. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. An ancient instrument of torture. Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Brakemen [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Railroads) A man in charge of a brake or brakes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) The man in charge of the winding (or hoisting) engine for a mine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the combination of interacting parts that work to slow a moving vehicle.
Syn. -- brake system. [ WordNet 1.5 ]