bracken

noun

brack·​en ˈbra-kən 

1

: a large coarse fern

especially : a nearly cosmopolitan brake (Pteridium aquilinum) found in most tropical and temperate regions

2

: a growth of brakes

Examples of bracken in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Browning bracken fern goes down, leaves tumble and woods begin to open up. — Tom Huggler, Outdoor Life, 13 Aug. 2026

The couple’s ambitious 200-year vision involves reviving the ecology through peat restoration, bracken rolling, and deer management, but also reenergizing rural communities by creating opportunities through tourism. — Jen Murphy, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2026

As tall as a man and immersed in a sea of bracken, it is now covered in moss and disappears from sight amid summertime growth, only to reëmerge when winter arrives. — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026

Intensive agricultural usage, long promoted by government funding, gives way to the rampant spread of bracken — a type of fern that, left to its own devices, grows upwards of six feet, choking out any other life. — Tom Vanderbilt, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024

The few shards of sunlight that pierce the leaf canopy cast glitter-ball shapes on the bracken. — Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Aug. 2023

Habitats include bracken grassland, oak savanna and sand prairies. — Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 6 June 2023

In a statement, Cornwall Archaeological Unit senior archaeologist Peter Dudley, said that 13 volunteers gave 111 hours of their time to clear the bracken and scrub that obscured the henge. — Jane Recker, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 May 2022

Word History

Etymology

Middle English braken, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Swedish brækne fern

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bracken

• blacken
• lakin
• slacken

Kids Definition

bracken

noun

brack·​en ˈbrak-ən 

: a large coarse branching fern

also : a growth of such ferns