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.
Examples of brake in a Sentence
Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 30 Oct. 2025
The rifle weighs up to 120 pounds with massive muzzle brakes, producing more than 200 foot-pounds of recoil.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2025
Idaho Statesman, 22 Oct. 2025
Buses are larger, less capable of swerving, and take longer to brake, but bus drivers are also far more likely to drive cautiously and avoid speeding, said Toronto.
—Owen Clarke, Outside, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brake
Cite this Entry
“Brake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brake. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
brake
1 of 4 nounbrake
2 of 4 nounbrake
3 of 4 verbbrake
4 of 4 noun
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