a device for slowing or stopping a vehicle or other moving mechanism by the absorption or transfer of the energy of momentum, usually by means of friction.
2.
brakes, the drums, shoes, tubes, levers, etc., making up such a device on a vehicle.
3.
anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.
4.
Also called brakeman.a member of a bobsled team who operates the brake.
5.
Also called breaker.a tool or machine for breaking up flax or hemp, to separate the fiber.
6.
Also called press brake.a machine for bending sheet metal to a desired shape.
7.
Obsolete. an old instrument of torture.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to slow or stop by means of or as if by means of a brake.
9.
to furnish with brakes.
10.
to process (flax or hemp) by crushing it in a brake.
Electricity. Also called breaker.a device for interrupting an electric circuit to prevent excessive current, as that caused by a short circuit, from damaging the apparatus in the circuit or from causing a fire.
2.
any property-tax relief measure that reduces or limits property taxes for certain eligible taxpayers, as those with low income or the elderly.
The automatic response, usually a halt or slowdown, in activity at an exchange in response to certain occurrences in trading. Circuit breakers are designed to reduce market volatility and were instituted following the large market breaks in October 1987 and October 1989. See also Rule 80A, suspended trading.
A wave that crests or breaks into foam, as against a shoreline.
A circuit breaker.
circuit breaker
A switch that automatically interrupts the flow of electric current if the current exceeds a preset limit, measured in amperes. Circuit breakers are used most often as a safety precaution where excessive current through a circuit could be hazardous. Unlike fuses, they can usually be reset and reused.
[brey-ker] 
