brairo 
brairo (bra'ro), w. [A corruption of F. blaircau, 
badger.] A Canadian French name of the 
American badger, Taxidca americana. 
braise 1 , v. and . See braize*. 
braise' 2 , . See braize 2 . 
braise", braisee (bra-za'), a. [F.] Braized. 
braiser, . See braizer. 
brait (brat), n. [Origin unknown.] Among jew- 
elers, a rough diamond. 
braize 1 , braise 1 (braz), v. t.; pret. and pp. 
braized, ppr. braizing. [< F. braiser, cook over 
live coals, < braise = Pr. brasa = Sp. brasa = 
Pg. braza = It. bracia, brascia, bragia, etc., 
live coals, embers (cf. F. braser, solder; OF. 
and F. em-braser, OF. es-braser, a-braser = Pr. 
em-brascr = Sp. a-brasar = Pg. a-brazar = It. 
ab-braciare, etc., set on fire); of Scand. origin: 
< Dan. braae, fry, = Sw. brasa, flame, = Icel. 
brasa, harden by fire : see brass 1 and brazier 2 .'] 
To cook (meat) by stewing in a thick rich gravy 
with vegetables, etc., and then slowly baking. 
braize 1 , braise 1 (braz), n. [< braize 1 , v.~] In 
cookery, braized meat. 
braize' 2 (braz), . [ Also braise; perhaps akin to 
barse, bass*, and bream 1 , q. v.] 1. An acanthop- 
terygian fish of the genus Pagrus, P. vulgaris, 
of the family Sparidai, found in British seas. 
Also called becker. 2. A local Scotch name 
of the roach. Also braze. 
braize 3 (braz), n. [A var. of breeze 3 .'] The 
dust of charcoal which accumulates around 
the furnace of charcoal-works ; coal-dust. 
The dust or braize of the Philadelphia coal-yards is 
sold for use in flre-boxes [of locomotives] of suitable con- 
struction. Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 601. 
braizer, braiser (bra'zer), n. [< braize*, braise*, 
+ -er*.] A covered pot, stew-pan, or kettle 
used in braizing. 
braizing-pan (bra'zing-pan), n. A small cov- 
ered pan or air-tight oven in which meat is 
braized. 
brake 1 (brak). Obsolete or archaic preterit of 
break. 
brake 1 (brak), n. [Var. spelling of break; cf. 
brack 1 and brake 2 .] If. A break; brack; flaw. 
The slighter brakes of our reformed Muse. 
Webster, Works, iv. 141. (Halliwell.) 
2. A mechanical device for arresting the mo- 
tion of a vehicle: now usually classed with 
brake 3 . See brake 3 , n., 9. 
brake' 2 t (brak), v. [< ME. braken (= D. braken), 
vomit, a secondary form of breken, E. break = 
G. brechen, break, vomit : see break, and cf. 
parbrakc.] I. intrans. To vomit. 
Brakijn or castyn, orspewe, vomo. Prompt. Parv.,p.47. 
And as an hounde that et gras so gan ich to brake. 
Piers Plowman (C), vii. 430. 
II. trans. To vomit ; cast up. 
The whal ... a warth fyndez 
There he brakez vp the buyrne [man, sc. Jonah]. 
Alliterative Puems (ed. Morris), 1. 3339. 
brake s (brak), . [< ME. brake, an instrument 
for breaking flax, also a name for other me- 
chanical contrivances ; not found in AS., but 
prob. of LG. origin : MLG. LG. brake = MD. 
braecke, T>. braak (vlas-braak, flax-brake) = Sw. 
braka (lin-braka, flax-brake) = Dan. brage, a 
brake (cf. OD. brake, a clog for the neck, MD. 
braecke, braake, an instrument for holding by 
the nose ; cf . OHG. brecka, MHG. G. breche, a 
brake) ; < MLG. LG. D., etc., breken =G. brechen 
= AS. brecan, E. break, q. v. Brake 3 is thus 
practically equiv. to break, n., of which, in 
some recent uses, it is only a different spelling, 
conformed to the older word.] 1. A tool or 
machine for breaking up the woody portion of 
flax, to loosen it from the harl or fibers. 2. 
The handle or lever by which a pump is worked. 
3. A bakers' kneading-machine, 4. A sharp 
bit or snaffle : as, " a snaffle bit or brake," Gas- 
coinne, Steele Glas. 5. An apparatus for con- 
fining refractory horses while being shod. 6. 
A medieval engine of war analogous to the bal- 
lista. 
Yet ceased not eyther the brakes or scorpions, whereof 
these discharged stones thicke, the other sent out darts 
as fast. Holland, tr. of Ammianus, xx. 8. 
They view the iron rams, the brakes, and slings. 
Fairfax, tr. of Tasso. 
7. A large heavy harrow for breaking clods 
after plowing. Also called drag. 8. A kind 
of wagonette. A large and heavy variety of 
this vehicle is used for breaking in young 
horses to harness. 9. Any mechanical device 
for arresting or retarding the motion of a ve- 
hicle or car by means of friction. The most com- 
mon form is that of curved wooden or iron shoes pressed 
against the rims of the wheels. In this sense sometimes 
spelled break. See air-brake. 
658 
bramble 
equal. Single-lever brake, a brake which has but a 
single lever, to which the force is applied. The fulcrum 
10. The fore part of a carriage, by which it brakebusht, n. [ME. brakebushe; < brake** + 
is turned. 11. A basket-makers' tool for bush*.] A fern-brake. 
stripping the bark from willow wands. 12f. brake-hanger (brak'hang"er), n. A link or bar 
An old instrument of torture. Also called the by which brake-beams and their attachments 
Duke of Eseter's daughter Automatic brake, a are suspended from a truck-frame or car-body. 
brake which acts mechanically under certain circum- Car-Builder's Diet. Parallel brake-hanger, a bar 
stances, as on a railroad-train when one car becomes de- or i m i< so attached to a brake-beam as to maintain the 
tached from the rest. Block-brake, a brake used in brake-head and brake-shoe in the same relative positions 
retarding a moving part by the pressure upon it of a sta- when the brakes are released, thus preventing the brake- 
tionary block. Compressed-air brake. See air-brake, shoes from striking against the wheel. 
Continuous brake, a series of car-brakes, so arranged brake-head (brak'hed), n. A piece of wood or 
that all can be controlled from some one point on the . Yniltp hparn and bparins 
train. See air-ftraie.- Double-lever brake, a brake on ir <>n fastened to a biake-beaa ana De 
a car-truck or four-wheeled car, having two levers so ar- against the wheels, forming both a brake-blocs 
ranged that the pressure on the two sets of shoes will^be and a brake-shoe. 
per (brak ' hop " er), . [< brake* + 
hopper.] A name for the grasshopper-warbler, 
Sylvia locustella, or Locustella natvia. Macgil- 
lirray. [Local, British.] 
brakeman (brak'man), . ; pi. brakftnen (-men). 
1. A man whose business is to apply the brakes 
on a railroad-train which are operated by hand. 
2. In mining, the man in charge of the wind- 
ing-engine. 
Sometimes spelled breakman, and in Great 
Britain often called brakesman. 
brakent, An obsolete form of bracken. 
brake-Shaft (brak 'shaft), n. The shaft on 
which is wound the chain by 
which the power of a car-brake 
operated by hand is applied to 
the wheels. 
brake-shoe (brak'shs), n. A 
piece of wood or metal fitted 
The single lever F, pivoted at mid-length, is operated by chain: 
. .... _jds from the brake-wheel on either platform. To the lever art ^ . 
attached rods G, H. proceeding to the brake-bars which carry the t o a brake-block, Or forming 
one piece with it, and serving 
Plan. 
Single-lever Car-brake. 
._ r , pivoted at mid-1 
and rods from the brake-wheel on eithe 
attach 
shoes. 
of the lever is upon one brake-beam, and from its shorter ag a^rubber to retard, by fric" 
arm a rod extends to the brake-beam of the other pair of t - .:>, , wliool troaH ny 
wheels of the same truck. -To bleed the brakes. See ' 
i,( ee( j -tire, the movement of a wheel. 
brake 3 (brak), v. t. ; pret. and pp. braked, ppr. -Brake-shoe valve, in an air- or 
ivrnl-;,,, MT r T r T> 7irnt-*>i ( "> F 1 hrat!iirr\ vacuum-brake, a valve so arranged as to relieve the pres- 
braktng. I = MLG. LG. D. hraken (>t .M aquer) sm . e upon the wneel when it becomes too great 
= Sw. braka = Dan brage, brake ; from the Brakesman (braks'man), n. ; pi. brakesmen 
noun. Cf. break, D.] If. To crack or break (the /.^n) i See brakeman 
stalks of flax) in order to separate the woody - l 
portions from the fiber. Now written break. 
It [flax] must be watered, dried, braked, tew-tawcd, and 
with much labor driuen and reduced in the end to be as soft 
and tender as wooll. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xix. (proem). , 
_ ,. , , ,, brake-Strap (brak strap), n. The strap sur- 
2 To retard or stop the motion of by the ap- roundi t ne pulley of a friction-brake, 
plication of a brake brakett . A Middle English form of bragget 2 . 
brake* (brak) ,, [< ME 6^ (see 6roA-o5) ; *ew, (brakVan) On European rail- 
not m AS., but prob of LG. ongin: MLG. ys, the van or car n a freight-train to the 
6 ^^ h J b - USh l 8 '^^' ^i e '. a .r^ OW ; b , US ^ ; whLs of which the brake i s g applied. See 
(brak'spol), n. An enlargement, 
fcy a sleeye or otherwise, of a brake-shaft to give 
Krea ter speed and less power to the brake. Car- 
j, ra ], e 3 a 
. ' 
1 
of a 
used to control 
orig. appar. rough or broken ground ; cf. D. 
braak (-land) = MLG. brake = G. brache, land 
broken but not sowed, MHG. brdcke, OHG. 
brdcha, the breaking of land after harvest (= f . 
MLG. brake = MD braecke, D. braak, breaking, ^rake - 2 A heavy wheel furnished with cams 
a break : see fcracfc 1 ) ; hence in comp., G. brack- j h j* f tri hammer . 
feld, equiv. to D. braakland, fallow land; OHG. v rakiB i, t a gee brackish 
MHG. brdchmanft, ' plowing-montii,' June; ^ fe y ( fc a 'ki), . [< brake* + -y*.] Full of 
whence separately as an adj D braak = G. gjg^ abounding with brambles or shrubs; 
brack (> Dan. brak) fallow; ult < D breken = h ' th a | u bmk thickets and deep 
OHG. brechan, MH6. brechen, G. breclien = AS. slol f h ' ,, Bp f mU Heaven upon Earth. 
brecan, E. break; being thus closely akin to 
brack* and to brake 3 .] 1 A place overgrown Redeem arts from their rough and brakey seats, where 
with bushes or brushwood, shrubs, and bram- thev lav hid a " d overgrown with thorns.^ ^^^ 
bles; a thicket; in the United States, a cane- . ., 
' is, a tract of ground overgrown with JraUt. An .obsolete spelling of brawl. 
Brama (bra ma), n. [NL.] The typical genus 
of fishes of the family Bramida. The pomfret, 
This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn brake B ^ ig an examp <[ e . Schneider, 1801. See 
cut under pomfret. 
Bramah lock, press. See the nouns. 
Scott, Young Lochinvar. Bramantcsque (brii-man-tesk'), a. Relating to 
The mid-forest brake, O r having the character or style of the works 
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms. . of Bramaute (1444-1514), a noted Italian archi- 
?nAX^ Mel ^*^- ^ue^upr^^^^ 
ing Dy U emseives. the origfnal ( f es i gn for the rebuilding of St. Peter's at 
brake (brak), n. [< ME. brake, appar. < AS. Rome, of which the execution was interrupted by his 
bracce (rare), a fern : see bracken. Appar. death. The epithet Bramantesque was early applied to 
confused in ME., etc., with brake*, a thicket, the style of architecture now called Renaissance, from the 
-, t A 1 T i_ i n t -i ~\ mi nrApmniimf rwlrtsin nolH \\v Tt'*irvi'jiif*> iti it mriimt.mri 
etc. ; cf. brake*, brakebush, fern-brake.] The 
name given to Pteris aquilina and other large 
ferns. See Pteris. 
, 
our tiring-house. Shak., M. N. D., iii. 1. 
He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone, 
He swam the Esk river where ford there was none. 
preeminent position held by Bramante in its formation. 
The artist who introduced Renaissance architecture, 
then called Bramantesque, into Lombardy. 
C. C. Perkim, Italian Sculpture, p. 182, note. 
Others [leaves] are parted small like our ferns or braki-*. 
E. Terry, Voyage, p. 105. bramantip (bra-man 'tip), n. Same as bamaUp. 
Buckhorn-brake, a name sometimes^ applied to the Brarnatherium (bra-ma-the'ri-um), . [NL., 
prop. "Brail m atherium, < Brahma* + Gr. ffqpiov, 
flowering fern, Osmunda regalia. Cliff-brake, a com- 
Tto/o'nZ^ ' BCnU8 Pel&a -~ Roci-brake, the plant flf ' beast'J'T "genus of 'gi'g'antic ' artiodactyi 
brake-bar "(brak'bar), , A bar connecting the mammals of uncertain position, related to Si- 
brake-shoes of opposite wheels of a carriage of Mthenum. Like the latter, it had four i*,*. iu,,i ,i, 
, . j mams occur with those of fsieatherium ITI !] middle and 
anv Kina. late Tertiary deposits of the Sivalik hills in India. Ful- 
brake-beam (brak'bem), n. A wooden bar wner and Cantleroy, 1846. 
supporting the brake-blocks of a car-truck. bramble (bram'bl), n. [< ME. brembrl, bronbil, 
brake-block (brak'blok), n. A wooden or bremtnil, < AS. brmnbel, brembel, prop, bremcl 
metal block holding the shoe or piece which (also brember, ME. brembcr: see brambleberry), 
bears against the tread or tire of a wheel when = ODan. bremle, brymlc = LG. brummel (-beren, 
the brake is applied. pi.), bramble; dim. of the form seen in ME. 
