From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhandbrakehand‧brake /ˈhændbreɪk/ noun [countable] British EnglishTTC a brake in a car that you pull up with your hand to stop the car from moving when it is parked SYN emergency brake American English
Examples from the Corpus
handbrake• She drew the car to a halt and pulled on the handbrake.• Mabs drew up beside the road and pulled on the handbrake.• I pulled into one of them, put on the handbrake and when the boys were out, locked the doors.• And they were so carried away, they forgot to put on the handbrake.• At the same time, I pulled the handbrake on and immediately let it out again.• The accused got into the driver's seat, released the handbrake, and steered the car downhill for 200 yards.• I drove to the hospital in Bangor with Nathan watching the road intently and hanging on to the handbrake.• Joyriders used front lawns to practise their handbrake turns. 