Brake or Break? One Stops, One Snaps
A brake slows a vehicle. It sounds exactly like break but is a separate word with a separate history.
A brake is the device that slows or stops a vehicle. It is a different word from *break*, and the pair is one of the most common spelling errors in English: a driver hits the brake, and a mechanic who confuses the two writes that the car has a broken break. The mnemonic that works is the shape of the machine part: a brAke is on a cAr.
- A stopping device. *The brakes failed.*
- To slow down. *He braked hard.*
- A check on something. *A brake on spending.*
- Handbrake — the parking brake. *Pull the handbrake.*
- Braking — the act of slowing. *Heavy braking.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | brake | The front brake. |
| Plural | brakes | New brakes. |
| Verb | brake | Brake gently. |
| Past | braked | She braked. |
| Noun | braking | Sudden braking. |
- He braked to avoid the cyclist.Verb.
- The brakes need replacing.Noun.
- Rising rates act as a brake on demand.Figurative.
Brake and break, sorted
- Brake — the stopping device, and the verb for using it
- Break — to snap, or a pause
- Brake pad, brake light, handbrake — always the a spelling
- Break time, breakdown, breakthrough — always the ea spelling
- Test — if you can substitute stop, it is brake
Middle English, probably from a Germanic word for a bridle or a curb bit. The vehicle sense appears in the early 1800s, with railways and carriages.
Is it brake or break the news?
Break. Brake only refers to slowing something down.
Why do brake and break sound the same?
They are homophones by coincidence. Their spellings preserve two unrelated origins.