brake

noun

A fern; bracken.

noun

A thicket, or an area overgrown with briers etc.

1. A tool used for breaking flax or hemp.
2. A type of machine for bending sheet metal. (See wikipedia.)
3. A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after ploughing; a drag.

1. To bruise and crush; to knead

   The farmer's son brakes the flax while mother brakes the bread dough

2. To pulverise with a harrow

1. An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
2. The handle of a pump.
3. A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, by friction; also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.

   She slammed the brakes when she saw a child run in front of the car.

4. A baker's kneading trough.
5. A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal.
6. That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.

1. To operate (a) brake(s).
2. To be stopped or slowed (as if) by braking.

1. A cage.
2. A type of torture instrument.

1. To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly.

   If the vase falls to the floor, it might break.

2. To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.

   Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?

3. To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of.

   Her child's death broke Angela.

4. To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

   My heart is breaking.

5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.

   I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck.

6. To ruin financially.

   The recession broke some small businesses.

7. To violate, to not adhere to.

   He broke his vows by cheating on his wife.

8. (of a fever) To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, in terms of temperature.

   Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over.

9. (of a spell of settled weather) To end.

   The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek.

10. (of a storm) To begin; to end.

    Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny.

11. (of morning, dawn, day etc.) To arrive.

    Morning has broken.

12. To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage.

    Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess.

13. To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether.

    Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?

14. To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar.

    break a seal

15. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

    The cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

16. (of a wave of water) To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.
17. To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.
18. To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

    Let's break for lunch.

19. To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.

    He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall.

20. To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.

    I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back.

21. (of a sound) To become audible suddenly.
22. To change a steady state abruptly.

    His coughing broke the silence.

23. To suddenly become.

    The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly.

24. Of a male voice, to become deeper at puberty.
25. Of a voice, to alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

    His voice breaks when he gets emotional.

26. To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

    He broke the men's 100-meter record.

27. :
28. (most often in the passive tense) To demote, to reduce the military rank of.
29. To end (a connection), to disconnect.

    I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back.

30. (of an emulsion) To demulsify.
31. To counter-attack
32. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.
33. To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.
34. To fail in business; to become bankrupt.
35. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

    to break flax

36. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.
37. To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

    to break into a run or gallop

38. To fall out; to terminate friendship.
39. To terminate the execution of a program before normal completion.
40. To suspend the execution of a program during debugging so that the state of the program can be investigated.