Brake
[breɪk] or [brek]
Definition
(noun.) a restraint used to slow or stop a vehicle.
(noun.) anything that slows or hinders a process; 'she wan not ready to put the brakes on her life with a marriage'; 'new legislation will put the brakes on spending'.
(noun.) an area thickly overgrown usually with one kind of plant.
(noun.) any of various ferns of the genus Pteris having pinnately compound leaves and including several popular houseplants.
(verb.) cause to stop by applying the brakes; 'brake the car before you go into a curve'.
(verb.) stop travelling by applying a brake; 'We had to brake suddenly when a chicken crossed the road'.
Edited by Kelsey--From WordNet
Definition
(-) imp. of Break.
(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.
(n.) A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
(v. t.) An instrument or machine to break or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from the fiber.
(v. t.) An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
(v. t.) A baker's kneading though.
(v. t.) A sharp bit or snaffle.
(v. t.) A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc.
(v. t.) That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
(v. t.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
(v. t.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses.
(v. t.) An ancient instrument of torture.
(-) of Break
Edited by Edith
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Fern.[2]. Thicket, brushwood, jungle.
Inputed by Eunice
Definition
n. a fern: a place overgrown with ferns or briers; a thicket.—adj. Brak′y.
n. a handle as of a pump: a lever for working a machine.
n. an instrument to break flax or hemp: a harrow: a contrivance for retarding by friction the speed of carriages wagons trains or revolving drums.—adj. Brake′less without a brake.—ns. Brake′man the man whose business it is to manage the brake of a railway-train; Brake′-van the carriage wherein the brake is worked; Brake′-wheel the wheel to which a brake is applied.
obsolete pa.t. of Break.
Edited by Fergus
Examples
- The principle of the air brake is to store up compressed air in a reservoir on the locomotive by means of a steam pump. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- A brake was provided for in the specification, as were also variable gears for changing speed, and an automatic blower for the fire. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- To stop, the armature circuit was opened by the main switch and the brake applied. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Prominent among modern improvements in steam railways is the air brake. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- She vanished in a hollow for a few moments, and then her whole form unfolded itself from the brake. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- He obtained the desired speed and load with a friction brake; also regulator of speed; but waited for an indicator to verify it. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The first back-pedal brake is shown in United States Pat. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The lower levels of the Mesozoic land were no doubt covered by great fern brakes and shrubby bush and a kind of jungle growth of trees. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- To stop the locomotive, the armature circuit was opened by the main switch, stopping the flow of current, and then brakes were applied by long levers. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The cars would be all right with their good metal-to-metal brakes and anyway, coming down, they would not be loaded. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- To your brakes and caves, ye outlawed thieves! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- All of the parts of the bicycle have come in for a share of attention at the hands of inventors, differential speed gears and brakes having received especial attention. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Air brakes and self-opening and self-closing doors on cars are operated by means of compression pumps. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Suddenly there was the sound of the brakes and the shutting off of a motor-car. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- This latter car had an interesting adjunct in an electric braking system (covered by Edison's Patent No. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Improved clutches, gear ratios which permit varying speeds, double-braking systems and electric lights are present-day refinements which add zest to the sport of motorcycling. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Checker: Sylvia