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plural branks
(historical) A punishment device, especially for scolding women, consisting of a cage to enclose the head, with a metal gag for the mouth; a scold's bridle. quotations
Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, describes the branks used at Newcastle-under-Lyme, and at Walsall, in the reign of James II.
1836 July, The Gentleman's Magazine, page 98