brake

«brake» in Mova's school dictionary: the part of a vehicle, like a bike or car, that slows it… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a brake, brakes); verb (brake, brakes, braked, braking)

meaning for a pupil

1) A brake is the part of a vehicle, like a bike or car, that slows it down or stops it. tree →

2) To brake is to use the brakes to slow down or stop. tree →

3) A brake is something that slows or stops something else happening. tree →

4) A brake is also a thicket, a thick clump of bushes or small trees. tree →

sense in the lessons

In road safety lessons, children learn to check their bike brakes before riding and to brake early on wet or icy roads, because stopping takes longer. In science, brakes use friction to slow things down, and the energy turns into heat. Cars need a stopping distance, which is why you must never run out between parked cars. Phrases: «slam on the brakes», «put the brakes on», «brake pads».

examples

• Check your brakes before you ride. tree →
• The driver slammed on the brakes. tree →
• Brake gently on the wet road. tree →
• Bike brakes work by friction. tree →
• The car braked suddenly at the crossing. tree →
• My brakes squeak when I stop. tree →
• Cars can't stop instantly, even with good brakes. tree →
• Mum put the brakes on the plan to buy a puppy. tree →
• The lumbering bear swung his head of hesitations and thought again; he trotted his small red eye away with him to a near-by brake. tree →

note

Countable: a brake, brakes. Past form: braked. Homophone trap: «brake» (to stop) and «break» (to smash, or a rest) sound the same. In science: friction from the brakes turns movement energy into heat.

In the corpora

• Brakes should be checked before a ride.
• When a bus or car brakes suddenly, the people inside lurch forward.
• On a bike, a level, buckled helmet and brakes that work matter more than looking cool.
• Picture the ABC check on the drive, Air, Brakes, Chain, then Bikeability training before you ride on the road.
• The Highway Code gives a stopping distance at 30 mph of about 23 m: about 9 m thinking plus 14 m braking.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «brake» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.