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}.
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.
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}.
2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a
package of goods.
3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or
communicate.
Katharine, break thy mind to me. --Shak.
4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To
break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. --Milton
5. 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.
Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their
senses I'll restore. --Shak.
6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as,
to break a set.
7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to
pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British
squares.
8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments
with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
--Prescott.
9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller
denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as,
to break flax.
11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
An old man, broken with the storms of state.
--Shak.
12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a
fall or blow.
I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
--Dryden.
13. 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.
14. 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.
Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
--Shak.
15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to
ruin.
With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
--Dryden.
16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to
cashier; to dismiss.
I see a great officer broken. --Swift.
Note: With prepositions or adverbs:
{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.]
Note: With an immediate object:
{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 cover}, to burst forth from a protecting
concealment, as game when hunted.
{To break a deer} or {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.
Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate;
infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.