brain

plural brains · alternative brayne

1. countableuncountableThe control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem, which is responsible for perception, cognition, attention, memory, emotion, and action.

   The brain of a calf, sheep, and pig, young and served fresh, is reputedly erotic in its effects.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 49

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   The Ueynes are ſpred foorth throughout the whole bodie, howbeit from one welhead, that is to ſay from the Liuer: ſo be the Sinews, howbeit from the Brayne; So likewiſe are the Heartſtrings, howbeit from the Heart.

   1587, Philip of Mornay [i.e., Philippe de Mornay], “That there is but Onely One God”, in Philip Sidney, Arthur Golding, transl., A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, […], London: […] [John Charlewood and] George Robinson for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 18

   Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

   2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34

   Synonyms: encephalon, harns

   1. countableuncountableA part of the brain, especially associated with particular mental functions, abilities, etc.

      The left brain, or that which supplies and animates the right side of the body, is the most active brain, as a general rule.

      1892, Benjamin Ward Richardson, The Asclepiad, London, page 357

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      What is expressed in the lotus, the plumed serpent, or the staff of Osiris is the yogi's knowledge of the three brains of man. The first brain is the reptilian brain of the spinal cord, the brain of instinctive reflexes, the brain of the subconscious.

      1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 113

      Synonyms: encephalon, harns

   2. countableobsoleteuncountableskull; head

      caused the young Princess, the King's only Daughter, to be taken and thrust into a large velvet Sack, and her Brains to be knockt out with great Bars

      1690, “Preface to the Reader”, in A Full and True Relation of the Great and Wonderful Revolution That Hapned Lately in the Kingdom of Siam in the East-Indies, London: Randal Taylor, page ii

      Synonyms: encephalon, harns

2. countableinformaluncountableMind.

   I have too much on my brain today.

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   And I should tell him all my pain, / ⁠And how my life had droop’d of late, / ⁠And he should sorrow o’er my state / And marvel what possess’d my brain; […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 22

3. countablein pluraluncountableIntellect.

   She has a lot of brains.

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   "We provided a lot of brains and a lot of heart to the response when it was needed," says Sandra Sanchez, director of AFSC's Immigrants' Voice Program in Des Moines.

   2008 Quaker Action (magazine) Rights trampled in rush to deport immigrant workers, Fall 2008, Vol. 89, No. 3, p. 8

4. countableinformaluncountableAn intelligent person.

   She was a total brain.

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   Peebee: The brains and I are comparing Remnant notes and filling in the blanks.

   2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nexus

   Synonyms: brain surgeon, brainbox, brainiac, deep thinker, Einstein, egghead, genius, intellectual

   1. countableinformalpluralplural onlyuncountableA person who provides the intelligence required for something.

      He is the brains behind the scheme.

      Synonyms: brain surgeon, brainbox, brainiac, deep thinker, Einstein, egghead, genius, intellectual

   2. countableinformalsingularuncountableAn intellectual or mental capacity.

      Gerald always acts like he doesn't have a brain.

      Synonyms: brain surgeon, brainbox, brainiac, deep thinker, Einstein, egghead, genius, intellectual

5. countableuncountableBy analogy with a human brain, the part of a machine or computer that performs calculations.

   The computer's brain is capable of millions of calculations a second.

6. slanguncountablevulgarOral sex.

   She giving brain / She eat the dick up like some M&Ms

   2018, “Squidrific”, performed by SahBabii

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   Have you ever popped champagne on a plane, while gettin' some brain?

   2007, “Good Life”, in Graduation, performed by Kanye West ft. T-Pain

   You said I got brain from your dame in the range / In the passing lane / But you really ain't got no proof

   2012, Mack Maine featuring Turk and Mystikal, I'm On It

   Got your nigga going / Going insane and so do I when he give me brain

   2012, “Boss Ass Bitch”, performed by PTAF

7. countableuncountableA loose compartment of a backpack that straps on over the top opening.

present singular third person brains · participle present braining · participle past brained · past brained

1. transitiveTo dash out the brains of; to kill by smashing the skull.
2. transitiveTo strike (someone) on the head.

   Lambdon would require medical attention for a fractured skull. It seemed that Fen had passed his wife a couple of telling pictures, whereupon the drab Mrs. Lambdon had brained her husband with a table lamp.

   2014, K.J. Charles, Think of England, page 166

3. figurativelytransitiveTo destroy; to put an end to.

   There thou maiſt braine him,

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 12

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   It was the ſwift celeritie of his death / […] That brain'd my purpoſe:

   c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 82, column 2

   He was going on with some wild reminiscences about his tomahawk-pipe, which, it seemed, had in its two uses both brained his foes and soothed his soul, when we were directly attracted to the sleeping rigger.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 21, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

4. obsoletetransitiveTo conceive in the mind; to understand.

   'Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen / Tongue, and brain not.

   1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]

5. humorousintransitivenonstandardTo think effectively.

   My brain isn't braining right now.

plural Brains

1. A surname.