1843 Oct. 382 Observe the wisdom of the ensuing sentence, illustrating that sort of brain-picking which some persons resort to.
1971 3 May 3/3 It was, I learnt, the product of much thought, a good deal of brain-picking and some manipulation of balsa wood models.
2006 C. Langston xvi. 154 It's time to do some serious brain-picking.