- brain
- noun1 part of the bodyADJECTIVE▪ human▪ left, right▪
The left brain controls the right-hand side of the body.
BRAIN + NOUN▪ cell, tissue▪ region▪ stem (usually brainstem)▪ function, process▪ activity▪ damage, death, disease, disorder, failure, haemorrhage/hemorrhage, illness, injury, tumour/tumor▪ scan▪He had a brain scan to search for possible damage.
▪ surgeon, surgery▪ activity, function, waves (usually brainwaves)PREPOSITION▪ in the/your brain▪Doctors tried to reduce the swelling in his brain.
▪ on the/your brain▪He was found to have a blood clot on his brain.
▪He has sex on the brain (= thinks about nothing but sex).
PHRASES▪ blow your brains out▪He put a gun to his head and threatened to blow his brains out.
2 ability to think/intelligenceADJECTIVE▪ fertile, fine, good, great, quick▪ muddled, tired▪My tired brain couldn't cope with such a complex problem.
▪ analyticalVERB + BRAIN▪ rack▪We racked our brains but we couldn't come up with a solution.
▪ pick sb's (= ask sb for information because they know more about a subject than you)▪I need to pick your brains: what can you tell me about credit unions?
▪ take▪It doesn't take much brain to work out that both stories can't be true.
▪ useBRAIN + VERB▪ function, tick over, work▪It's important to keep your brain ticking over.
▪ reel▪His brain reeled as he realized the implication of his dismissal.
▪ register sth▪The stopping distance includes the time taken for the brain to register the need to stop.
BRAIN + NOUN▪ power (usually brainpower)▪ drain (= the movement of skilled people to other countries)PREPOSITION▪ brain behind▪He was the brains behind the robberies.
PHRASES▪ brains, not brawn, etc.▪They relied on brains rather than brawn (= intelligence, not strength).
▪ have a brain for sth▪She has a good brain for mathematics.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
