BRAKE (2)

brake (2). Brake, n. a thicket of brambles or shrubs, instrument for dressing flax, kneadingtrough, bit, handle of a pump

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Brake, n. [[OE. brake fern; cf. AS. bracce fern, LG. brake willow bush, Da. bregne fern, G. brach fallow; prob. orig. the growth on rough, broken ground, fr. the root of E. break. See Break, v. t., cf. Bracken, and 2d Brake, n.]] 1. 1. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the P. aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern.
2. 2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough, To shelter thee from tempest and from rain. Shak. He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone. Sir W. Scott. Cane brake, a thicket of canes. See Canebrake.