Definition of 'brain'

brain

(breɪn )

Word forms: plural , 3rd person singular present tense , plural brains , present participle braining, past tense , past participle brained

1. countable noun

Your brain is the organ inside your head that controls your body's activities and enables you to think and to feel things such as heat and pain.

Her father died of a brain tumour.

2. countable noun [usually poss NOUN]

Your brain is your mind and the way that you think.

Once you stop using your brain you soon go stale.

Stretch your brain with this puzzle.

3. countable noun

If someone has brains or a good brain, they have the ability to learn and understand things quickly, to solve problems, and to make good decisions.

They were not the only ones to have brains and ambition.

I had a good brain and the teachers liked me.

4. countable noun [usually plural]

If someone is the brains behind an idea or an organization, he or she had that idea or makes the important decisions about how that organization is managed.

[informal]

Mr White was the brains behind the scheme.

Some investigators regarded her as the brains of the gang. [+ of]

5. verb

To brain someone means to hit them forcefully on the head.

[informal]

He had threatened to brain him then and there. [VERB noun]

Synonyms: hit, strike, smash, belt [informal] More Synonyms of brain

to beat someone's brains out

blow someone's brains out

have on the brain

to pick someone's brains

10. to rack your brains

More Synonyms of brain

brain

(breɪn )

noun

the soft convoluted mass of nervous tissue within the skull of vertebrates that is the controlling and coordinating centre of the nervous system and the seat of thought, memory, and emotion. It includes the cerebrum, brainstem, and cerebellum

. Technical name : encephalon ▶ Related adjectives: cerebral, encephalic

the main neural bundle or ganglion of certain invertebrates

3. (often plural) informal

intellectual ability

he's got brains

4. informal

shrewdness or cunning

5. informal

an intellectual or intelligent person

6. (usually plural; functioning as singular) informal

a person who plans and organizes an undertaking or is in overall control of an organization, etc

an electronic device, such as a computer, that performs apparently similar functions to the human brain

8. on the brain

9. pick someone's brain

verb (transitive)

10.

to smash the skull of

11. slang

to hit hard on the head

Word origin of 'brain'

Old English brægen; related to Old Frisian brein, Middle Low German bregen, Greek brekhmos forehead

brain in American English

(breɪn ; brān)

noun

1. [sometimes pl.]

the mass of nerve tissue in the cranium of vertebrate animals, an enlarged extension of the spinal cord: it is the main part of the nervous system, the center of thought, and the organ that perceives sensory impulses and regulates motor impulses: it is made up of gray matter (the outer cortex of nerve cells) and white matter (the inner mass of nerve fibers)

a comparable organ in invertebrate animals

a. [often pl.]

intelligence; mental ability

b. Informal

a person of great intelligence

4. [usually pl.] ; Informal

the main organizer or planner of a group activity; chief controller or director

verb transitive

to dash out the brains of

6. Slang

to hit hard on the head

Idioms:

beat one's brains

have on the brain

pick someone's brains

Word origin of 'brain'

ME < OE brægen < IE base *mregh-m(n)o-, skull, brain > Gr bregma, forehead

Example sentences containing 'brain'

They demand more from both brain and body. Sally Gunnell, Kathryn Leigh BE YOUR BEST: How Anyone can become Fit, Healthy and Confident (2002)Plus a brain with a memory so he can recall all the election promises he made. The Sun (2011)You get hit on the head and your brain jars and it hurts. The Sun (2016)He allowed me to look at an image of my brain on the computer screen. Times, Sunday Times (2006)We saw a spatula used to remove the brains from skulls. Times, Sunday Times (2006)The ability to do so resides in what are known as the higher centres of the brain. Knowles, Jane Know Your Own Mind (1991)We force our brain to work hard. Evans, Andrew The Secrets of Musical Confidence (1994)My father said my brain is no great loss to mankind. The Sun (2014)Villas-Boas could do with some older brains to pick. Times, Sunday Times (2011)She underwent brain surgery and is now in a stable condition under armed guard in hospital. The Sun (2015)Here are some particularly important brain nutrients. Times, Sunday Times (2008)The human body and brain are extraordinarily complex. Times, Sunday Times (2014)Today the ego feels like a metal mask around my brain and head. The Sun (2011)Research tells us that the brain is very good at capturing the gist of a situation or experience. Christianity Today (2000)Experts will be studying her case to see what helps the brain and memory to recover after illness. The Sun (2010)But the same law forbids us ending the suffering of an elderly person whose brain has turned to jelly. The Sun (2007)Fish is good for the brain. Grunfield, Nina A Miscellany of Mother's Wisdom (1994)There's no better way to keep your brain trained than playing our great teasers. The Sun (2013)They found that booze affects the brain's ability to detect symmetry. The Sun (2010)