brainnoun
uk/breɪn/us/breɪn/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 intelligent but lazy).
[ C usually plural ] informal a very intelligent person, especially one who has spent a lot of time studying:
We have the best brains in the land working on this problem.
the brains [ S ]
the most intelligent person in a group, especially the person who plans what the group will do:
My little brother's the brains of the family.
More examples
- Gorillas, chimpanzees, and gibbons are all anthropoid apes, having long arms, no tails, and highly developed brains.
- The doctors were worried that he might have suffered brain damage.
- The virus attacks specific cells in the brain.
- We still don't fully understand how the brain works.
- He had a blood clot removed from his brain.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The brain & nervous system
- -brained
- amygdala
- arachnoid
- ascending
- autonomic nervous system
- ganglion
- grey matter
- innervate
- innervation
- intracranial
- intrathecal
- lobe
- nerve cell
- neuron
- peripheral nervous system
- postganglionic
- preganglionic
- reflex arc
- sensory neuron
- synapse
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Intelligence
Intelligent people
Idiom(s)
have sth on the brain
brainverb [ T ]
uk/breɪn/us/breɪn/informalto hit someone on the head:
I'll brain you if you don't keep quiet.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Hitting and beating
- a bunch of fives idiom
- a rap on/over the knuckles idiom
- at-risk
- bang up sb/sth
- bashing
- deck
- hell
- kick
- knock
- knock sb's block off idiom
- lay
- lay sb out
- licking
- mess sb up
- pound
- pummel
- put the boot in idiom
- swing
- thump
- whack
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