Brake, n.
 1. Bot. A fern of the genus Pteris, esp. the Pteris aquilina, common in almost all countries.  It has solitary stems dividing into three principal branches.  Less properly: Any fern.
 2. A thicket; a place overgrown with shrubs and brambles, with undergrowth and ferns, or with canes.
 Rounds rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
 To shelter thee from tempest and from rain.   --Shak.
    He stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone.   --Sir W. Scott.
 Cane brake, a thicket of canes. See Canebrake.