GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 4 definitions

      
Brake , imp. of Break. [Arhaic]Tennyson.

1913 Webster

      
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.]
1913 Webster
(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
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

      
Brake , 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.]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
An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
1913 Webster
A baker's kneading though.Johnson.

1913 Webster
A sharp bit or snaffle.
1913 Webster
Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit.
Gascoigne.

1913 Webster
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
That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
1913 Webster
(Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
1913 Webster
(Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag.
1913 Webster
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
(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
A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses.
1913 Webster
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

      
Break , v. t. [imp. broke , (Obs. Brake); p. p. Broken , (Obs. Broke); p. pr. & vb. n. Breaking.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka, bräkka to crack, Dan. brække to break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. Bray to pound, Breach, Fragile.]To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.Shak.

1913 Webster
To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.
1913 Webster
To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
1913 Webster
Katharine, break thy mind to me.
Shak.

1913 Webster
To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
1913 Webster
 Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . 
To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.
Milton

1913 Webster
To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.
1913 Webster
Go, release them, Ariel;
My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore.
Shak.

1913 Webster
To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.
1913 Webster
To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.
1913 Webster
To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
1913 Webster
The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
Prescott.

1913 Webster
To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
1913 Webster
To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.
1913 Webster
To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
1913 Webster
An old man, broken with the storms of state.
Shak.

1913 Webster
To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.
1913 Webster
I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
Dryden.

1913 Webster
To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.
1913 Webster
To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle. “To break a colt.”Spenser.

1913 Webster
Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
Shak.

1913 Webster
To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.
1913 Webster
With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
Dryden.

1913 Webster
To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
1913 Webster
I see a great officer broken.
Swift.

1913 Webster
With prepositions or adverbs: --
1913 Webster
To break down. (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition. (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. -- To break in. (a) To force in; as, to break in a door. (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in. -- To break of, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break one of a habit. -- To break off. (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig. (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. “Break off thy sins by righteousness.” Dan. iv. 27. -- To break open, to open by breaking. “Open the door, or I will break it open.” Shak. -- To break out, to take or force out by breaking; as, to break out a pane of glass. -- To break out a cargo, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it easily. -- To break through. (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to break through the enemy's lines; to break through the ice. (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. -- To break up. (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). “Break up this capon.” Shak. “Break up your fallow ground.” Jer. iv. 3. (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. “Break up the court.” Shak. -- To break (one) all up, to unsettle or disconcert completely; to upset. [Colloq.]
1913 Webster
With an immediate object: --
1913 Webster
To break the back. (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally. (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the back of a difficult undertaking. -- To break bulk, to destroy the entirety of a load by removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to transfer in detail, as from boats to cars. -- To break a code to discover a method to convert coded messages into the original understandable text. -- To break cover, to burst forth from a protecting concealment, as game when hunted. -- To break a deer or To break a stag, to cut it up and apportion the parts among those entitled to a share. -- To break fast, to partake of food after abstinence. See Breakfast. -- To break ground. (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence excavation, as for building, siege operations, and the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a canal, or a railroad. (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan. (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom. -- To break the heart, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief. -- To break a house (Law), to remove or set aside with violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of the fastenings provided to secure it. -- To break the ice, to get through first difficulties; to overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a subject. -- To break jail, to escape from confinement in jail, usually by forcible means. -- To break a jest, to utter a jest. “Patroclus . . . the livelong day breaks scurril jests.” Shak. -- To break joints, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc., so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with those in the preceding course. -- To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest. -- To break the neck, to dislocate the joints of the neck. -- To break no squares, to create no trouble. [Obs.] -- To break a path, road, etc., to open a way through obstacles by force or labor. -- To break upon a wheel, to execute or torture, as a criminal by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly employed in some countries. -- To break wind, to give vent to wind from the anus.
1913 Webster
Syn. -- To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate; infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.
1913 Webster

Last match results

Hoarfrost