n. 1. A device for slowing or stopping motion, as of a vehicle, especially by contact friction. 2. Something that slows or stops action. v. braked, brak·ing, brakes v.tr. To reduce the speed of with or as if with a brake. v.intr. 1. To operate or apply a brake. 2. To be slowed or stopped by or as if by the operation of a brake. [Early Modern English brake, bridle, curb (for a horse), perhaps from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, nose ring, curb, flax brake; see BRAKE2.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. 1. A toothed device for crushing and beating flax or hemp. 2. A heavy harrow for breaking clods of earth. 3. An apparatus for kneading large amounts of dough. 4. A machine for bending and folding sheet metal. tr.v. braked, brak·ing, brakes 1. To crush (flax or hemp) in a toothed device. 2. To break up (clods of earth) with a harrow. [Middle English, from Middle Dutch, from Middle Low German; see bhreg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. also break A high horse-drawn carriage with four wheels. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.