brain
the organ inside the head that controls thought, memory, feelings, and activity
My son John is a brain surgeon.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
brain
noun
the part inside the head of a person or an animal that thinks and feels:
The brain controls the rest of the body.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
brain
I. brain1 S2 W2 /breɪn/ BrE AmE noun
[Language: Old English; Origin: brægen]
1. ORGAN [countable] the organ inside your head that controls how you think, feel, and move:
Messages from the brain are carried by the central nervous system.
the chemistry of the brain
the human brain
the right/left hemisphere of the brain (=the right or left side of the brain)
Emotional responses are a function of the right hemisphere of the brain.
She died of a brain tumour.
brain tissue/cell
2. INTELLIGENCE [countable usually plural, uncountable] the ability to think clearly and learn quickly:
If you had any brains, you’d know what I meant.
The job requires brains.
Something’s addled your brains (=made you confused).
Come on, use your brain, John.
3. PERSON [countable usually plural] informal someone who is intelligent, with good ideas and useful skills:
Some of our best brains are leaving the country to work in the US. ⇨ brain drain
4. FOOD [uncountable] (also brains [plural]) the brain of an animal, used as food
5. have something on the brain informal to be always thinking about something:
I’ve got that song on the brain today.
6. be the brains behind/of something to be the person who thought of and developed a particular plan, system, or organization, especially a successful one:
Danny’s definitely the brains of the project.
7. brain dead
a) in a state where your brain has stopped working properly, even though your heart may still be beating
b) informal in a state in which you seem stupid or uninteresting, especially because you live a boring life or are very tired
8. something is not brain surgery informal used to say that something is not difficult to do
⇨ bird-brain, hare-brained, ⇨ beat your brains out at beat1(22), ⇨ pick sb’s brains at pick1(7), ⇨ rack your brain(s) at rack2(2)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ verbs
▪ have brains You should have more brains than to smoke.
▪ use your brain It’s easy if you just use your brain.
▪ rack your brains (=try very hard to think of something) If we all rack our brains we should come up with some ideas.
▪ pick sb’s brains (=ask someone for ideas) I thought I’d pick Greg's brains about what to take with us.
▪ it takes/requires brains to do something It takes brains to think of a plan like that.
▪ something addles your brain (=makes you unable to think clearly) The alcohol had addled his brain.
■ adjectives
▪ a good/quick brain It was obvious that Ann had a good brain.
II. brain2 BrE AmE verb [transitive] informal
to hit someone very hard on the head – used humorously:
I wanted to brain him.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
brain
brain [brain brains brained braining] noun, verb [breɪn] [breɪn]
noun
IN HEAD
1. countable the organ inside the head that controls movement, thought, memory and feeling
• damage to the brain
• brain cells
• She died of a brain tumour.
• a device to measure brain activity during sleep
FOOD
2. brains plural the brain of an animal, eaten as food
• sheep's brains
INTELLIGENCE
3. uncountable, countable, usually plural the ability to learn quickly and think about things in a logical and intelligent way
• It doesn't take much brain to work out that both stories can't be true.
• Teachers spotted that he had a good brain at an early age.
• You need brains as well as brawn (= intelligence as well as strength) to do this job.
see also no-brainer
INTELLIGENT PERSON
4. countable, usually plural (informal) an intelligent person
• one of the best scientific brains in the country
5. the brains singular the most intelligent person in a particular group; the person who is responsible for thinking of and organizing sth
• He's always been the brains of the family.
• The band's drummer is the brains behind their latest venture.
more at beat your brains out at beat v., blow your/sb's brains out at blow v., cudgel your brains at cudgel v., pick sb's brains at pick v., rack your brains at rack v.
Word Origin:
Old English brægen, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch brein.
Thesaurus:
brain noun C
1.
• The scan showed no damage to the brain.
mind • • head • • subconscious •
the human brain/mind
deep in the brain/your mind/your subconscious
2. U, C, usually pl.
• She must have inherited her mother's brains.
intelligence • • intellect • • wits • • mind • • genius • |AmE, informal smarts •
(a) great brain/intelligence/intellect/mind/genius
have a … brain/intelligence/intellect/…wits/a … mind/genius/smarts
use your brain/intelligence/wits/mind/smarts
Example Bank:
• He had a brain scan to search for possible damage.
• He has sex on the brain= thinks about nothing but sex.
• He put a gun to his head and threatened to blow his brains out.
• He was found to have a blood clot on his brain.
• He was the brains behind the robberies.
• He's got football on the brain.
• His brain reeled as he realized the implication of his dismissal.
• I need to pick your brains: what can you tell me about credit unions?
• It's important to keep your brain ticking over.
• My tired brain couldn't cope with such a complex problem.
• She has a good brain for mathematics.
• The left brain controls the right-hand side of the body.
• The stopping distance includes the time taken for the brain to register the need to stop.
• They relied on brains rather than brawn.
• We racked our brains but we couldn't come up with a solution.
• While cleaning his shotgun he had accidentally blown his own brains out.
• Electrodes were used to measure brain activity during sleep.
• Fruit eating primates have relatively larger brains than those that eat leaves.
• Jack's got the brain to realize that the money won't last forever.
• She must have inherited her mother's brains.
• She's always been the brains of the family.
• Teachers spotted early on that he had a good brain.
• The band's drummer is the brains behind their latest venture.
• The scan apparently showed no damage to the brain.
• We have the best scientific brains in the country working on this.
• You need brains as well as brawn to do this job.
Idiom: have something on the brain
verb ~ sb/sth/yourself (informal)
to kill a person or an animal by hitting them very hard on the head
• I nearly brained myself on that low beam.
Verb forms:
Word Origin:
Old English brægen, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch brein.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
brain / breɪn / noun
brain
A2 [ C ] the organ inside the head that controls thought, memory, feelings, and activity:
Doctors tried desperately to reduce the swelling in her brain.
The accident left him with permanent brain damage .
His wife died from a brain tumour .
C1 [ C ] used to refer to intelligence:
Marie has an amazing brain (= is very intelligent) .
That can't possibly be the right way to do it - use your brain!
The poor child inherited his mother's brains and his father's looks.
He's got brains but he's too lazy to use them (= he is clever but lazy) .
[ C usually plural ] informal a very intelligent person, especially one who has spent a lot of time studying:
We've got the best brains in the land working on this problem.
the brains [ S ] the cleverest person of a group, especially the person who plans what the group will do:
My little brother's the brains of the family.
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
brain
[bre͟ɪn]
♦♦
brains, braining, brained
1) N-COUNT 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) N-COUNT: usu poss N 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.
Syn:
mind, intellect
3) N-COUNT 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) N-COUNT: usu pl, the N behind/of n 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.
5) VERB To brain someone means to hit them forcefully on the head. [INFORMAL]
[V n] He had threatened to brain him then and there.
6) PHRASE: V inflects To beat someone's brains out or bash their brains in means to hit their head very hard, so that they are badly injured or killed. [INFORMAL]
They stood over him with clubs raised as if to beat his brains out.
7) PHRASE: V inflects To blow someone's brains out means to shoot them in the head, killing them. [INFORMAL]
Give me all your money or I'll blow your brains out...
He blew his brains out with a shotgun.
8) PHRASE: V inflects If someone has something on the brain, they keep thinking about it. [INFORMAL]
You've had chess on the brain since you were little.
9) PHRASE: V inflects If you pick someone's brains, you ask them to help you with a problem because they know more about the subject than you. [INFORMAL]
Why should a successful company allow another firm to pick its brains?
10) to rack your brains → see rack
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1brain /ˈbreɪn/ noun, pl brains [count]
1 : the organ of the body in the head that controls functions, movements, sensations, and thoughts
• Scientists are learning more about how the human brain works.
• The left and right sides of the brain have different functions.
- often used before another noun
• a brain injury/tumor
• brain damage/surgery
• brain cells/tissue
2 informal : the ability to think and reason : intelligence
• Don't be such an idiot—use your brain. [=head]
• She has a good brain. [=she is smart]
• I'm sorry—I don't know where my brain is today. [=I'm not thinking clearly today]
• If he had half a brain [=if he was at all smart], he would have left a long time ago.
- often plural
• If he had any brains, he would have left a long time ago.
• She has both brains and beauty.
3 informal : a very intelligent person
• The other children always teased him about being such a brain.
• She is one of the best brains [=intellects, minds] in the field.
✦If you are the brains of/behind something, you are the person who thinks of plans or makes important decisions for a group.
• She's the brains of this organization.
• He was the brains behind the scheme.
beat/bash someone's brains out or US beat/bash someone's brains in informal : to hit someone on the head in a way that causes serious injury or death : to beat someone very badly
• They threatened to beat my brains in if I ever came here again.
blow someone's brains out informal : to kill someone with a shot to the head : to shoot someone fatally in the head
• When he refused to hand over the money, the robbers threatened to blow his brains out.
cudgel your brain/brains informal + old-fashioned : to think very hard : to rack your brain
• I cudgeled my brains for a solution to the problem.
on the brain informal : always in your thoughts
• I've had pizza on the brain all day. [=I've been thinking about pizza all day]
• He's got sex on the brain. [=he's always thinking about sex]
pick someone's brain/brains informal : to talk to someone in order to get helpful information or advice
• Do you have a moment? I need to pick your brain about a little situation that has come up.
rack your brain/brains
- see 2rack
