brains
See also: Brains
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]brains
Noun
[edit]brains pl (plural only)
- The substance of a brain, as a material or foodstuff.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
- (informal) The figurative substance of a brain: mental ability, intelligence.
- Sadly, I got my brains from my mom and my looks from the mailman.
- (informal, with "the") The intelligent person or people in a group: the director, planner, administrator, etc.
- Who's the brains behind this operation?
- 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:
- I mean, it's a bit of a waste of money paying me eighteen grand to run errands, isn't it? Come on. I'm supposed to be the brains of this outfit.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]as food
(informal) intelligence, aptitude
(informal, with “the”) the intelligent person or people in a group: the director, planner, administrator, etc.
See also
[edit]- (intelligent person; director, planner, administrator): mastermind
Verb
[edit]brains
- third-person singular simple present indicative of brain
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/eɪnz
- Rhymes:English/eɪnz/1 syllable
- English non-lemma forms
- English noun forms
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English pluralia tantum
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English verb forms