brake1
  
  n.
 a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, typically by applying pressure to the wheels.
v.
 slow or stop a moving vehicle using a brake.
Etymology
  C18: of unknown origin.
 
  
    
brake2
  
  n.
 historical an open horse-drawn carriage with four wheels.
Etymology
  C19: var. of break2.
 
  
    
brake3
  
  n.
  - a toothed instrument used for crushing flax and hemp.
- 
(also brake harrow)
 a heavy machine formerly used for breaking up large lumps of earth.
Etymology
  ME: perh. rel. to break1.
 
  
    
brake4
  
  
  Etymology
  OE bracu (orig. in the pl. in fearnbraca ‘thickets of fern’), rel. to Mid. Low Ger. brake ‘branch, stump’.
 
  
    
brake5
  
  n.
 a coarse fern of warm countries, typically with fronds divided into long segments. 
[Genus 
Pteris.]
 
▸archaic bracken.
Etymology
  ME: perh. an abbrev. of bracken (interpreted as pl.).