emergency brake

See synonyms for emergency brake on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Also called parking brake. a special brake used to prevent a motor vehicle from rolling after it has stopped or been parked.: Compare brake1 (def. 1).

  2. any brake meant to stop a vehicle in an emergency.

Origin of emergency brake

1
First recorded in 1895–1900

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use emergency brake in a sentence

  • Then he went back, eased off the emergency brake, grabbed a good handhold and strained forward.

    Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
  • Fortunately, they carried an emergency brake, so that the steepness of the declivity did not alarm them.

  • At the same instant his hand sought the emergency brake lever and he pushed it forward.

  • He saw the danger, and with his hand upon the emergency-brake he threw his weight upon the wheel.

    The Spell | William Dana Orcutt
  • Then the engineer threw on the emergency brake, and the front end of the baggage car crumpled up.