defective, faulty | front, rear | foot, hand | air, anti-lock, disc, drum, vacuum

apply, hit, jam on, put/slam your foot on, put on, slam on
She slammed on the brakes to try to avoid the dog.

keep your foot on | let off, release, take your foot off
He released the brake and sped off.

work
My brakes are not working properly.

fail
The car crashed after its brakes failed.

screech, squeal | be on/off
Is the brake on?

failure | cable, fluid, lights, pads, pedal, pipes

act/serve as a brake on sth
(figurative),

put a brake/the brakes on sth
(figurative) The need to earn some money put the brakes on my wilder ambitions.

a screech/squeal of brakes
We heard the screech of brakes, followed by a loud crash.

hard, heavily, sharply, suddenly, violently

brake to a halt
The train braked to a shuddering halt.

brake to avoid sth
She braked suddenly to avoid a cat.