Antonyms for brains
| Grammar : Noun |
| Spell : breyn |
| Phonetic Transcription : breɪn |
Definition of brains
Origin :- Old English brægen "brain," from Proto-Germanic *bragnam (cf. Middle Low German bregen, Old Frisian and Dutch brein), from PIE root *mregh-m(n)o- "skull, brain" (cf. Greek brekhmos "front part of the skull, top of the head"). But Liberman writes that brain "has no established cognates outside West Germanic ..." and is not connected to the Greek word. More probably, he writes, its etymon is PIE *bhragno "something broken."
- The custom of using the plural to refer to the substance (literal or figurative), as opposed to the organ, dates from 16c. Figurative sense of "intellectual power" is from late 14c.; meaning "a clever person" is first recorded 1914. Brain teaser is from 1923. Brain stem first recorded 1879, from German. Brain drain is attested from 1963. An Old English word for "head" was brægnloca, which might be translated as "brain locker." In Middle English, brainsick (Old English brægenseoc) meant "mad, addled."
- noun very smart person
- noun mind, intelligence
- It takes a man with some of the brains your pa had to make the game pay now.
- Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
- I tell you, it's a mighty good thing we got your brains to depend on.
- Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
- Even if you had the brains, you ain't got the taste nor the sperrit in you.
- Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
- Perhaps, after all, I might have the brains to jest and toss about words and shoot off epigrams.
- Extract from : « Viviette » by William J. Locke
- And found out he is sure to be; he has not the brains to hide a thing!
- Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
- Any one with brains can get rich in this country if he will engage the right lawyer.
- Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana
- Chip and I don't set up nights emptying our brains out our mouths.
- Extract from : « Chip, of the Flying U » by B. M. Bower
- We have brains, and with our brains we must do in a scientific way what Nature does with tooth and claw.
- Extract from : « Her Father's Daughter » by Gene Stratton-Porter
- You had brains, boy, but it would have been better if you had never used them.
- Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
- Here was a real woman, one above the average in character and brains.
- Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
Synonyms for brains
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019