(n.) A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the P. aquilina, common in almost all countries. It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches. Less properly: Any fern.
(n.) A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
(v. t.) An instrument or machine to break or bruise the woody part of flax or hemp so that it may be separated from the fiber.
(v. t.) An extended handle by means of which a number of men can unite in working a pump, as in a fire engine.
(v. t.) A baker's kneading though.
(v. t.) A sharp bit or snaffle.
(v. t.) A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc.
(v. t.) That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
(v. t.) An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
(v. t.) A large, heavy harrow for breaking clods after plowing; a drag.
(v. t.) A piece of mechanism for retarding or stopping motion by friction, as of a carriage or railway car, by the pressure of rubbers against the wheels, or of clogs or ratchets against the track or roadway, or of a pivoted lever against a wheel or drum in a machine.
(v. t.) An apparatus for testing the power of a steam engine, or other motor, by weighing the amount of friction that the motor will overcome; a friction brake.
(v. t.) A cart or carriage without a body, used in breaking in horses.
(v. t.) An ancient instrument of torture.
() of Break
Example Sentences:
(1) But, in a sign of tension within the coalition government, the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, told BBC2's Newsnight that "if [the offenders in question] had committed the same offence the day before the riots, they would not have received a sentence of that nature".
(2) He said: "Advanced economies are still confronted with high levels of public and private debt, which act as brakes on the recovery.
(3) With skills and labour shortages set to continue, there’s a risk that many vacancies will be left unfilled which could act as a brake on output growth in the UK in the years ahead.” The most recent labour market data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that while EU nationals were still arriving in the UK, they were doing so in smaller numbers than in the past.
(4) Koehler confirmed German media reports that the truck had apparently been slowed by an automatic braking system, bringing it to a standstill after 70 to 80 metres (230-260ft) and preventing worse carnage.
(5) Motor-perceptual performance was measured in terms of reaction times taken by subjects to carry out steering, braking and operation of traffic indicators in the simulator.
(6) The technology is also there for green-laning, says Everett – intelligent traffic lights that recognise where traffic is coming from, allowing cars to flow more freely and cutting down on unnecessary braking and restarting, which wastes energy.
(7) Trade-offs among competing selective demands exert the only brake upon perfection; non-optimality is thereby rendered as a result of adaptation as well.
(8) Decc now proposes to include an "emergency brake" mechanism which would close the RHI scheme down as payments approached pre-set levels.
(9) Simulated braking responses have been tested in relation to blood carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) levels.
(10) The results during wakefulness indicate that the TA contributes to an active adduction of the vocal cords in expiration and suggest the presence of an active laryngeal braking mechanism during exhalation.
(11) The chancellor stressed that Britain’s relationship with the EU would remain unchanged for the time being – and ditched the idea, launched alongside his predecessor Alistair Darling during the campaign – that an emergency budget would be necessary within weeks, as Brexit slams the brakes on the economy.
(12) My assembly report, Braking Point , showed the big advantages of making 20mph the default speed limit for urban areas and, as the previous mayor's road safety ambassador, I pressed for the adoption of the zero-casualty approach applied in Scandinavian countries.
(13) The eastern European nations balked at the “emergency brake” on benefits to EU migrants.
(14) The perturbation consisted of a braking of the treadmill at different phases in the step cycle.
(15) An automatic control system has been integrated in an electronically braked bicycle ergometer, and a pedal unit from Rodby Electronic bicycle ergometer RE 820 has been coupled to a modified test wheelchair.
(16) Here are 10 things that could put the brakes on your mortgage hopes, and how to try and fix them.
(17) Scientists say the drug works by taking the brakes off the immune system.
(18) Less than two months after his arrival at Tesco, Lewis has already put the brakes on three stores as he examines “all aspects of the group in order to improve its competitive position and deliver attractive, sustainable returns for shareholders”.
(19) While the case would bring publicity to the issue of the rights or interests of "non-human persons", something for which some people have been arguing for a long time, if the case fails and there is then case law history against recognising those rights, that would not be helpful for the cause, Brakes warned.
(20) Exercise testing was performed with an electrically braked bicycle ergometer in the supine position, and the load was increased by 25 or 50 watts every two minutes until fatigue, severe angina, more than 0.3 mV ST-segment depression, or 80% of the age predicted maximum heart rate was achieved.
Crossbow
Definition:
(n.) A weapon, used in discharging arrows, formed by placing a bow crosswise on a stock.
Example Sentences:
(1) Officers searched his bedsit and found a .22 pistol, 244 rounds of ammunition, two knives, a crossbow and six crossbow bolts.
(2) A non-fatal penetrating injury involving the brain stem is described from a crossbow bolt.
(3) But should researchers require actual tissue from the animal, they can use a hollow needle fired from a crossbow.
(4) A fully-grown, captive-bred lion is taken from its pen to an enclosed area where it wanders listlessly for some hours before being shot dead by a man with a shotgun, hand-gun or even a crossbow, standing safely on the back of a truck.
(5) Fire cable-loaded crossbow (all embassies have these; ask at reception) across the street to Harrod's roof.
(6) In Los Angeles County, two crossbow homicides have occurred in the past 20 years.
(7) The fact that Dr Palmer’s weapon of choice was some high-tech crossbow seems to amplify the creepy, primal connection that he sought with the suffering of his prey.
(8) Captive-bred lions are put into enclosures where tourists pay thousands of dollars for the dubious privilege of shooting them with guns or crossbows.
(9) At one point, shortly after leaving Foxcatcher, he fantasised about killing du Pont with a crossbow.
(10) Used by Edward I as a crossbow bolt factory, it was a debtors’ prison before being turned into a hostel in 1948 and beautifully refurbished in 2015.
(11) A patient survived thoracoabdominal penetrating injury with impalement of the descending thoracic aorta from a crossbow bolt.
(12) The event is known to fans as "the Red Wedding" because – well, Robb's wife was knifed in the belly, his mother had her throat slit, and Robb was riddled with crossbow shafts.
(13) Following the second case, a crossbow was test-fired into a fresh pork thigh, resulting in distinctive wounds.
(14) We report an unusual case of a 19-year-old man who suffered transoral penetration of the cervical spine by an arrow released by a crossbow at close range.
(15) Hunters Knives and Swords advertised a range of the horror film-inspired blades including swords, machetes and a £39.99 “crossbow pistol”.
(16) The final stage of the demo gives you a crossbow, which immediately had me shutting one eye to aim down the iron sights.
(17) In its conference edition of Crossbow magazine entitled "Party Shrugged: How the Conservative Party lost its base", several leading members of the Conservative Party including David Davis, Sir Edward Leigh, Toby Young and Paul Goodman, have come together to call for urgent action to avert the crisis of a rapidly decreasing membership and voter base.
(18) The crossbow is an uncommon source of fatal injury.
(19) The show, called Fort Apache, opened with Iglesias astride a Harley Davidson Sportster motorbike, placing a helmet over his head and – after a close-up of his eyes – slinging a massive crossbow across his back before roaring off.
(20) Not only is it incomprehensible to me that anyone would want to kill an endangered animal (fewer than 20,000 wild lions in Africa today) but to lure Cecil from the safety of a national park and then to shoot him with a crossbow...?