brank

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English - English
A metal bridle formerly used as a torture device to hold the head of a scold and restrain the tongue
To put someone in the branks
{n} a sort of grain, buck-wheat
A sort of bridle with wooden side pieces
Buckwheat
A device consisting of a metal frame for the head and a bit to restrain the tongue, formerly used to punish scolds. Usually used in the plural
To hold up and toss the head; applied to horses as spurning the bit
To prance; to caper
A scolding bridle, an instrument formerly used for correcting scolding women
It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold

Related Terms

brank's bridle
A scold's bridle, sometimes called "the branks", as well as "brank's bridle" was a punishment device shaped like an iron muzzle in an iron framework used primarily on women, as a form of torture and public humiliation