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.
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. □ I had a good brain and the teachers liked me.
4 N‑COUNT [usu pl] 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. □ [+ of ] Some investigators regarded her as the brains of the gang.
5 PHRASE 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?
6 to rack your brains → see rack COLLOCATIONS brain NOUN
1
adjective + brain : human; left, right
verb + brain : scan; affect, damage
2
adjective + brain : human, teenage; mathematical, sharp, shrewd
verb + brain : engage, stimulate, use
brain|child /bre I ntʃa I ld/ also brain-child N‑SING [with poss] Someone's brainchild is an idea or invention that they have thought up or created. □ The project was the brainchild of the British Council offices in India.
brai n dam|age N‑UNCOUNT If someone suffers brain damage , their brain is damaged by an illness or injury so that they cannot function normally. □ He suffered severe brain damage after a motorbike accident.
brai n-damaged ADJ Someone who is brain-damaged has suffered brain damage. □ The accident left the boy severely brain-damaged and almost totally reliant on others.
brai n-dea d also brain dead , braindead
1 ADJ If someone is declared brain-dead , they have suffered brain death.
2 ADJ If you say that someone is brain-dead , you are saying in a cruel way that you think they are very stupid. [DISAPPROVAL ]
brai n death N‑UNCOUNT Brain death occurs when someone's brain stops functioning, even though their heart may be kept beating using a machine.
brai n drain N‑SING When people talk about a brain drain , they are referring to the movement of a large number of scientists or academics away from their own country to other countries where the conditions and salaries are better.
-brained /-bre I nd/
1 COMB You can combine -brained with nouns to form adjectives which describe the quality of someone's mind when you consider that person to be rather stupid. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …a scatter-brained professor.
2 → see also hare-brained
brain|less /bre I nləs/ ADJ If you describe someone or something as brainless , you mean that you think they are stupid. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ I got treated as if I was a bit brainless.
brain|power /bre I npaʊə r /
1 N‑UNCOUNT Brainpower is intelligence or the ability to think. [JOURNALISM ] □ She admired Robert's brainpower.
2 N‑UNCOUNT You can refer to the intelligent people in an organization or country as its brainpower . [JOURNALISM ] □ A country's principal resource is its brainpower.
brain|storm /bre I nstɔː r m/ (brainstorms , brainstorming , brainstormed )
1 N‑COUNT If you have a brainstorm , you suddenly become unable to think clearly. [BRIT ] □ I can have a brainstorm and be very extravagant.
2 N‑COUNT If you have a brainstorm , you suddenly have a clever idea. [AM ] □ 'Look,' she said, getting a brainstorm, 'Why don't you invite them here?' in BRIT, usually use brainwave 3 VERB If a group of people brainstorm , they have a meeting in which they all put forward as many ideas and suggestions as they can think of. □ [V ] The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other. □ [V n] We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company. ● brain|storming N‑UNCOUNT □ Hundreds of ideas had been tried and discarded during two years of brainstorming.
brai n teas|er (brain teasers ) also brain-teaser N‑COUNT A brain teaser is a question, problem, or puzzle that is difficult to answer or solve, but is not serious or important.
brain|wash /bre I nwɒʃ/ (brainwashes , brainwashing , brainwashed ) VERB If you brainwash someone, you force them to believe something by continually telling them that it is true, and preventing them from thinking about it properly. □ [V n + into ] They brainwash people into giving up all their money. □ [be V -ed to-inf] We were brainwashed to believe we were all equal. [Also V n]
brain|wave /bre I nwe I v/ (brainwaves )
1 N‑COUNT If you have a brainwave , you suddenly have a clever idea. [BRIT ] □ In 1990 she had a brainwave that changed her life. in AM, usually use brainstorm 2 N‑PLURAL Brainwaves are electrical signals produced by the brain which can be recorded and measured. □ His brainwaves were constantly monitored.
brainy /bre I ni/ (brainier , brainiest ) ADJ Someone who is brainy is clever and good at learning. [INFORMAL ] □ I don't class myself as being very intelligent or brainy.
braise /bre I z/ (braises , braising , braised ) VERB When you braise meat or a vegetable, you fry it quickly and then cook it slowly in a covered dish with a small amount of liquid. □ [V n] I braised some beans to accompany a shoulder of lamb. □ [V -ed] …braised cabbage.