noun
1 part of the body
ADJECTIVE
▪ human
▪ left , right
▪
The left ~ 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 ~ scan to search for possible damage.
▪ surgeon , surgery
▪ activity , function , waves (usually brainwaves )
PREPOSITION
▪ in the/your ~
▪
Doctors tried to reduce the swelling in his ~.
▪ on the/your ~
▪
He was found to have a blood clot on his ~.
▪
He has sex on the ~ (= thinks about nothing but sex) .
PHRASES
▪ blow your ~s out
▪
He put a gun to his head and threatened to blow his ~s out.
2 ability to think/intelligence
ADJECTIVE
▪ fertile , fine , good , great , quick
▪ muddled , tired
▪
My tired ~ couldn't cope with such a complex problem.
▪ analytical
VERB + BRAIN
▪ rack
▪
We racked our ~s 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 ~s: what can you tell me about credit unions?
▪ take
▪
It doesn't take much ~ to work out that both stories can't be true.
▪ use
BRAIN + VERB
▪ function , tick over , work
▪
It's important to keep your ~ ticking over.
▪ reel
▪
His ~ reeled as he realized the implication of his dismissal.
▪ register sth
▪
The stopping distance includes the time taken for the ~ to register the need to stop.
BRAIN + NOUN
▪ power (usually brainpower )
▪ drain (= the movement of skilled people to other countries)
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ behind
▪
He was the ~s behind the robberies.
PHRASES
▪ ~s, not brawn , etc.
▪
They relied on ~s rather than brawn (= intelligence, not strength) .
▪ have a ~ for sth
▪
She has a good ~ for mathematics.