brake
/bɹeɪk/
"brake" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brake” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,655 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,655
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); al...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brake |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹeɪk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,655 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brake” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for brake is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹeɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,655 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for brake, with forms such as "barke", "bbrake", and "brakke". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "brat", "bray", "bran", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Origin uncertain; possibly from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German brake (“nose ring, curb, flax brake”), which according to Watkins is related to sense 4 and from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). The correct English form is brake, spelled B-R-A-K-E.
Definition
- 1A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.
- 2A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.
- 3A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.
- 4A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.
- 5An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
- 6An ancient engine of war analogous to the crossbow and ballista.
- 7The handle of a pump.
- 8A baker’s kneading trough.
- 9A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal.
- 10A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal.
- 11A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal.
- 12A device used to confine or prevent the motion of an animal.
- 13That part of a carriage, as of a movable battery, or engine, which enables it to turn.
Etymology
Origin uncertain; possibly from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German brake (“nose ring, curb, flax brake”), which according to Watkins is related to sense 4 and from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: barke,bbrake,brakke,brkae,brrake,rbake
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brake - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “brake”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-A-K-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹeɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “brat” - see the side-by-side comparison. brake vs brat
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.