\Brake\ (br[=a]k),
imp. of {Break}. [Arhaic] --Tennyson.

\Brake\, 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.]
1. (Bot.) 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.
2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles,
   with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
         Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough, To
         shelter thee from tempest and from rain. --Shak.
         He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for
         stone.                                --Sir W.
                                               Scott.
{Cane brake}, a thicket of canes. See {Canebrake}.

\Brake\ (br[=a]k), 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.
2. An extended handle by means of which a number of men can
   unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
3. A baker's kneading though. --Johnson.
4. A sharp bit or snaffle.
         Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit.
                                               --Gascoigne.
5. A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith
   is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle,
   horses, etc.
         A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and
         because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of
         iron bars.                            --J. Brende.
6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or
   engine, which enables it to turn.
7. (Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow
   and ballista.
8. (Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after
   plowing; a drag.
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.
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.
11. A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in
    horses.
12. An ancient instrument of torture. --Holinshed.
{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}.