hand brake

noun

variants or handbrake
ˈhan(d)-ˌbrāk How to pronounce hand brake (audio)
plural hand brakes or handbrakes
: an emergency brake operated by a hand lever
The handbrake can help to prevent accidents when the foot brake fails to stop the vehicle during an emergency.—TechStartups.com

Examples of hand brake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Those chairs are in bad shape, with sticky wheels and faulty hand brakes. — Sophie Neiman, NPR, 20 June 2026 Each coaster cart has hand brakes, giving riders control over their speed. — Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 18 July 2024 The bikes have hand brakes, emergency brakes, baskets on the sides, cup holders and small slots for phones. — John Tuohy, IndyStar, 8 May 2025 Riders control their speed with hand brakes for a custom experience. — Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 8 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for hand brake

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hand brake was in 1841

Rhymes for hand brake

See All Rhymes for hand brake

Browse Nearby Words

handbow
hand brake
handbreadth
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hand brake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hand%20brake. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All