BRAKES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brakes mean? 

• BRAKES (noun)
  The noun BRAKES has 1 sense:

1. a braking device consisting of a combination of interacting parts that work to slow a motor vehicle

  Familiarity information: BRAKES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRAKES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A braking device consisting of a combination of interacting parts that work to slow a motor vehicle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

brake system; brakes

Hypernyms ("brakes" is a kind of...):

brake (a restraint used to slow or stop a vehicle)

Meronyms (parts of "brakes"):

brake band (a band that can be tightened around a shaft to stop its rotation)

brake light; stoplight (a red light on the rear of a motor vehicle that signals when the brakes are applied to slow or stop)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brakes"):

hydraulic brake; hydraulic brakes (brake system in which a brake pedal moves a piston in the master cylinder; brake fluid then applies great force to the brake pads or shoes)

Holonyms ("brakes" is a part of...):

automotive vehicle; motor vehicle (a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not run on rails)

 Context examples 

The very next train roared from the tunnel as before, but slowed in the open, and then, with a creaking of brakes, pulled up immediately beneath us.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you think of all inhibitory neurons like brakes on a car, the rosehip neurons would let your car stop in very particular spots on your drive.

(Mysterious New Type of Human Brain Cell Discovered, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The newly discovered cells belong to a class of neurons known as inhibitory neurons, which put the brakes on the activity of other neurons in the brain.

(Mysterious New Type of Human Brain Cell Discovered, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He slowed down, but still without any intention of stopping until, as we came nearer, the hushed intent faces of the people at the garage door made him automatically put on the brakes.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires, and I knew that first I had to get myself definitely out of that tangle back home.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson's sign. After a moment the proprietor emerged from the interior of his establishment and gazed hollow-eyed at the car.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)