Brake block

Brake 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. [1913 Webster]

2. An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine. [1913 Webster]

3. A baker's kneading though. --Johnson. [1913 Webster]

4. A sharp bit or snaffle. [1913 Webster]

Pampered jades . . . which need nor break nor bit. --Gascoigne. [1913 Webster]

5. 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]

6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn. [1913 Webster]

7. (Mil.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista. [1913 Webster]

8. (Agric.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

11. A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses. [1913 Webster]

12. 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]