handbrake

nounB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,059 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: handbrakes

A handbrake is the lever that holds a parked car still. Put the handbrake on, release the handbrake, a handbrake turn.

It usually works on the rear wheels only and by cable rather than by fluid, which is why it still works if the hydraulics fail. Modern cars increasingly use an electronic switch instead. Americans call it the parking brake or the emergency brake.

Definitions of handbrake

1nounhandbrakeThe lever that holds a parked car still.B1+
“Always put the handbrake on when you park on a hill.”

handbrake is a control.

Where it comes from

Hand plus brake, from the early days of motoring.

From hand + brake.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Vehicles & Machines

Practise this word

handbrake in the wild

The handbrake was operated by a lever under the dashboard in both bench and individual front seat versions.
Riley Pathfinder
A handbrake is provided which the player is encouraged to use to perform handbrake turns round sharp corners.
GTI Club
The name comes from an unusual optical illusion which makes it seem that a car with the handbrake off begins to roll up the hill.
Indian Ghost Hill
There is a transmission brake fitted behind the gearbox operated by foot pedal and internal expanding drum brakes on the back axle operated by the handbrake lever.
Rolls-Royce 15 hp
The transmission brake is provided solely as a parking brake or handbrake.
Transmission brake

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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