BRAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brain mean? 

• BRAIN (noun)
  The noun BRAIN has 5 senses:

1. that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord

2. mental ability

3. that which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason

4. someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality

5. the brain of certain animals used as meat

  Familiarity information: BRAIN used as a noun is common.

• BRAIN (verb)
  The verb BRAIN has 2 senses:

1. hit on the head

2. kill by smashing someone's skull

  Familiarity information: BRAIN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

That part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

brain; encephalon

Hypernyms ("brain" is a kind of...):

neural structure (a structure that is part of the nervous system)

Meronyms (parts of "brain"):

arteria communicans; communicating artery (any of three arteries in the brain that make up the circle of Willis)

brain cell (a nerve cell in the brain)

neencephalon; neoencephalon (the part of the brain having the most recent phylogenetic origin; the cerebral cortex and related parts)

forebrain; prosencephalon (the anterior portion of the brain; the part of the brain that develops from the anterior part of the neural tube)

mesencephalon; midbrain (the middle portion of the brain)

hindbrain; rhombencephalon (the posterior portion of the brain including cerebellum and brainstem)

brain-stem; brain stem; brainstem (the part of the brain continuous with the spinal cord and comprising the medulla oblongata and pons and midbrain and parts of the hypothalamus)

ventricle (one of four connected cavities in the brain; is continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord and contains cerebrospinal fluid)

circle of Willis (a ring of arteries at the base of the brain)

Holonyms ("brain" is a part of...):

central nervous system; CNS; systema nervosum centrale (the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord)

caput; head (the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains)

Derivation:

brain (kill by smashing someone's skull)

brain (hit on the head)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mental ability

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

brain; brainpower; learning ability; mental capacity; mentality; wit

Context example:

he's got plenty of brains but no common sense

Hypernyms ("brain" is a kind of...):

intelligence (the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience)

Derivation:

brainy (having or marked by unusual and impressive intelligence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

That which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

brain; head; mind; nous; psyche

Context example:

I couldn't get his words out of my head

Hypernyms ("brain" is a kind of...):

cognition; knowledge; noesis (the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brain"):

noddle (an informal British expression for head or mind)

tabula rasa (a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke))

ego ((psychoanalysis) the conscious mind)

unconscious; unconscious mind (that part of the mind wherein psychic activity takes place of which the person is unaware)

subconscious; subconscious mind (psychic activity just below the level of awareness)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and originality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

brain; brainiac; Einstein; genius; mastermind

Context example:

he's smart but he's no Einstein

Hypernyms ("brain" is a kind of...):

intellect; intellectual (a person who uses the mind creatively)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brain"):

prodigy (an unusually gifted or intelligent (young) person; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration)

Derivation:

brainy (having or marked by unusual and impressive intelligence)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The brain of certain animals used as meat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("brain" is a kind of...):

organs; variety meat (edible viscera of a butchered animal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brain"):

calf's brain (the brain of a calf eaten as meat)

• BRAIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they brain    ... he / she / it brains   
Past simple: brained   
Past participle: brained   
-ing form: braining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hit on the head

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "brain" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to brain his opponent

Derivation:

brain (that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Kill by smashing someone's skull

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "brain" is one way to...):

kill (cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

brain (that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord)

 Context examples 

"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

In 2017, one group observed ripples flowing simultaneously in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and the neocortex of rat brains and that this activity appeared to play a role in learning.

(Our brains may ripple before remembering, National Institutes of Health)

The drug helped reduce the amount of Pg bacteria and block the production of amyloid beta in the animals' brains.

(New Link Found between Alzheimer's & Gum Disease Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This damages nerve cells by blocking their ability to make the proteins needed for synaptic function and leads to the death of neurons in the brain and spinal cord.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

New proteins must be produced to reconsolidate retrieved memories and return them to long-term storage in the brain.

(How Our Memory Works, NIH, US)

Sodium lactate was previously shown to activate brain regions associated with orexin-secreting neurons.

(The Mechanism of Panic Attacks, NIH, US)

The variant on chromosome 7, for instance, is close to AUTS2, a gene that has been linked to alcohol consumption, as well as others that relate to brain development and sleep-related electric signaling.

(Can't Sleep? Could Be Down to Genetics, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The phantasmagoria of his brain vanished at sight of her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He has a brain of the first order.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some of the people threw up stones, hoping to drive the monkey down; but this was strictly forbidden, or else, very probably, my brains had been dashed out.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)