Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Brank

Brank ({not transcribed}) , noun

[Prov. of Celtic origin; compare Latin brance, brace, the Gallic name of a particularly white kind of corn.]

Buckwheat. [Local, English] — Halliwell

Brank , noun

[Compare Gael. brangus, brangas, a sort of pillory, Ir. brancas halter, or Dutch pranger fetter.]

1.
A sort of bridle with wooden side pieces. [Scottish & Provincial English] — Jamieson
2.
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.

Also: Branks

Brank , intransitive verb

1.
To hold up and toss the head; -- applied to horses as spurning the bit. [Scottish & Provincial English]
2.
To prance; to caper. [Scottish] — Jamieson