brake
6 of 6archaic past tense of break
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Break and Brake: Remembering Which Is Which
It can be hard to apply these words correctly: they sound exactly the same, and their spellings aren't easily connected to their meanings. One of the pair, however, is quite limited in scope, and focusing on when to apply that one can be key.
When the subject is slowing or stopping movement, the word to use is brake. Brake is both a noun, as in "put on the brakes" and "took my foot off the brake," and a verb, as in "brake at the stop sign" and "I brake for moose." As a noun, it's also used before other nouns: "brake fluid," "brake pedal." As in these examples, the word is used in contexts relating to cars, bicycles, and other vehicles. It's also used figuratively, however, to talk about the slowing or stopping of activity, as in "putting the brakes on spending."
Break also functions as both a noun and a verb, and it's the word you want in all other contexts, such as when the topic is something separating into parts or pieces ("the plate will break if it falls," "break a leg," "a bad break"), being damaged to the point of no longer working ("break a watch"), failing to do what is promised ("break a promise"), or referring to a time during which activity stops ("take a break").
If you have difficulty keeping these straight and are inclined to think in pictures, you might want to imagine a foot nestled in the top of the k in brake, pressing that top line down onto the e, which isn't saying a thing, because the k has put the brakes on.
Synonyms
Examples of brake in a Sentence
Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2024
On Saturday, Lt. Maria Abal with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said there appeared to be an issue with the tram’s brakes.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024
Lightfoot remained at the scene of the crash and told officers the reason for the crash was a malfunction of his brakes, according to a police affidavit.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2024
The font – used to display brake, park and antilock brake system warning size in nearly 2.2 million cars – violates federal safety standards, according to the National Highway Traffic Association.
—Lucia Suarez Sang, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2024
Last week, as Santa Monica was approving the low-income housing project costing more than $1 million a unit, the U.S. Supreme Court was putting the brakes on California’s impact fees.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
Traffic video of the crash presented in the trial showed Pederson was distracted while driving and never applied his brakes before hitting the 18-wheeler, according to the release.
—Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Apr. 2024
That’s why system operators around the world are beginning to put the brakes on renewable deployment and curtailing the operation of existing renewable plants.
—Benjamin Kroposki, IEEE Spectrum, 13 Apr. 2024
The driver jumped into the driver’s seat and tried to stop the bus, but pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes, police said.
—Rebekah Riess, CNN, 13 Apr. 2024
Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2024
The Waymo vehicle braked but made contact with the gate, scratching the right side of the vehicle, the company said.
—Trisha Thadani, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024
Kentucky State Police spokesperson Capt. Paul Blanton said that when driving in winter weather, drivers should do one action at a time, which includes braking, turning or accelerating.
Live updates: High Wind Warning issued for Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green for Friday
Will school be out?
—Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 12 Jan. 2024
Students are able to progress from Dodge Chargers and Challengers to Dodge Vipers, and, eventually, open-wheel Ligier Formula 4 race cars—all while learning how to brake harder, set the front tires before turning, and exit from the apex to reach full throttle as quickly as possible.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 3 Apr. 2024
This required the crew to manually brake by applying pressure to the pedals while deploying the aircraft’s thrust reversers — an additional way to decelerate a flight while landing — according to the investigation.
—Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Mar. 2024
The robotaxi braked but was hit by the gate, resulting in some minor scratches.
—Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024
Vehicles are measured on six levels of autonomy with zero representing cars with no autonomous features whatsoever and five marking futuristic self-driving vehicles of the future with no need for steering wheels or braking pedals.
—Popular Science, 15 Feb. 2024
Authorities say the accident happened after the 16-year-old driver of a Dodge Durango fell asleep at the wheel, veering his vehicle into the right shoulder of northbound I-75 and into the back of the trooper's patrol car without braking.
—Kylie Martin, Detroit Free Press, 11 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brake.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Brake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brake. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
brake
1 of 4 nounbrake
2 of 4 nounbrake
3 of 4 verbbrake
4 of 4 noun
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