brake
oxford
views updated May 18 2018brake1 / brāk/ •
n. a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, typically by applying pressure to the wheels: he slammed on his brakes. ∎ a thing that slows or hinders a process: China's decision to put the brakes on economic reform.•
v. [intr.] make a moving vehicle slow down or stop by using a brake: drivers who brake abruptly [as adj.] (braking) an anti-lock braking system. brake2 •
n. hist. an open, horse-drawn, four-wheeled carriage.brake3 •
n. a toothed instrument used for crushing flax and hemp. ∎ (also brake harrow) a heavy machine formerly used in agriculture for breaking up large lumps of earth.brake4 •
n. archaic or poetic/lit. a thicket. See also canebrake, fernbrake.brake2 (also brake fern) •
n. a coarse fern (genus Pteris, family Pteridaceae) of warm and tropical countries, frequently having the fronds divided into long linear segments. ∎ archaic term for bracken.brake3 • archaic past of break.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
brake
oxford
views updated May 23 2018brake Device for slowing the speed of a vehicle or machine. Braking can be accomplished by a mechanical, hydraulic (liquid), or pneumatic (air) system that presses a non-rotating part into contact with a rotating part, so that friction stops the motion. In a car, the non-rotating part is called a shoe or pad, and the rotating part is a disc or drum attached to a wheel. Some vehicles use electromagnetic effects to oppose the motion and cause braking. A ‘power’ brake utilizes a vacuum system.
World Encyclopedia
brake
oxford
views updated May 14 2018brake1 thicket. OE.
bracu, corr. to MLG.
brake branch, etc.; prob. f. *
brak- *
brek- BREAK1, the orig. sense being ‘broken wood’ perh. reinforced in ME, from LG.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
brake
oxford
views updated Jun 27 2018brake3 apparatus for retarding the motion of a wheel. XVIII. prob. spec. use of †
brake bridle, curb (XV-XVIII) — MDu.
braeke, rel. to
breken BREAK1.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
brake
oxford
views updated May 21 2018brake2 fern, bracken. XIV. perh. shortening of
BRACKEN, through the apprehension of this as a pl. form.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
brake
oxford
views updated May 18 2018brake An area of
bracken (or other fern), scrub, or underwood.
A Dictionary of Plant Sciences MICHAEL ALLABY
brake
oxford
views updated May 11 2018 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
Brake
gale
views updated Jun 08 2018Brake
a clump of brushes, brushwood, or briars. See also thicket.
Example: brakes of fern, shrub, and fallen trees, 1772.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms
brake
oxford
views updated May 23 2018brake An area of bracken (or other fern), scrub, or underwood.
A Dictionary of Ecology MICHAEL ALLABY
