| 1. | a rigid plate, usually of steel in the shape of an arc of a cylinder, coated on the outside of its curved surface with a friction-producing material and tightened against the inside of a brake drum to produce a braking action. |
| 2. | (on a bicycle) one of two metal blocks holding rubber pads that, when the hand brake is activated, press against the rotating wheel to produce a braking action. Compare caliper (def. 6). |
| brake shoe n. A curved metal block that presses against and arrests the rotation of a wheel or brake drum. |
