"brain cramp" meaning in English

See brain cramp in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: brain cramps [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} brain cramp (plural brain cramps)
  1. (figuratively) A temporary mental lapse, such as an inability to remember something, to focus one's attention, to understand something, or to perform some other mental task of which one would ordinarily be capable. Tags: figuratively Synonyms: brain-cramp Coordinate_terms: brain fart, draw a blank, fire on all cylinders, thinko
    Sense id: en-brain_cramp-en-noun-ux1w8HLk Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for brain cramp meaning in English (2.5kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "brain cramps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "brain cramp (plural brain cramps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "brain fart"
        },
        {
          "word": "draw a blank"
        },
        {
          "word": "fire on all cylinders"
        },
        {
          "word": "thinko"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1944, D. H. Lawrence and Frieda Lawrence, The First Lady Chatterley (original version of Lady Chatterley's Lover, 2005 reprint), ch. 20, p. 264",
          "text": "\"I can't remember. I've got a cramp of the brain. Do you mind hitting me over the head?\"\n\"What for?\"\n\"To make me forget the last two minutes, and take away my brain cramp.\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 November 3, Robert Lipsyte, “Sports: Backtalk—Imaginations Running Wild Through the City”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-11-30",
          "text": "Don't think too fast at the start. You can get a brain cramp, which is how marathon ruminations are lost.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Stephen King, Under the Dome, online preview edition",
          "text": "I had a brain-cramp there for a minute, the smile said, but now sanity has reasserted itself."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 November 18, Kent Ward, “Thankful for things to be thankful for”, in Bangor Daily News, USA, retrieved 2011-11-30",
          "text": "Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry suffered through a cringe-inducing brain cramp during a recent prime-time television debate and was unable to name the third agency of government that he, as president, would eliminate.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A temporary mental lapse, such as an inability to remember something, to focus one's attention, to understand something, or to perform some other mental task of which one would ordinarily be capable."
      ],
      "id": "en-brain_cramp-en-noun-ux1w8HLk",
      "links": [
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        [
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          "lapse"
        ],
        [
          "inability",
          "inability"
        ],
        [
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          "remember"
        ],
        [
          "focus",
          "focus"
        ],
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A temporary mental lapse, such as an inability to remember something, to focus one's attention, to understand something, or to perform some other mental task of which one would ordinarily be capable."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "brain-cramp"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "brain cramp"
}
{
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "word": "brain fart"
    },
    {
      "word": "draw a blank"
    },
    {
      "word": "fire on all cylinders"
    },
    {
      "word": "thinko"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "brain cramps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "brain cramp (plural brain cramps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1944, D. H. Lawrence and Frieda Lawrence, The First Lady Chatterley (original version of Lady Chatterley's Lover, 2005 reprint), ch. 20, p. 264",
          "text": "\"I can't remember. I've got a cramp of the brain. Do you mind hitting me over the head?\"\n\"What for?\"\n\"To make me forget the last two minutes, and take away my brain cramp.\""
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 November 3, Robert Lipsyte, “Sports: Backtalk—Imaginations Running Wild Through the City”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-11-30",
          "text": "Don't think too fast at the start. You can get a brain cramp, which is how marathon ruminations are lost.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Stephen King, Under the Dome, online preview edition",
          "text": "I had a brain-cramp there for a minute, the smile said, but now sanity has reasserted itself."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 November 18, Kent Ward, “Thankful for things to be thankful for”, in Bangor Daily News, USA, retrieved 2011-11-30",
          "text": "Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry suffered through a cringe-inducing brain cramp during a recent prime-time television debate and was unable to name the third agency of government that he, as president, would eliminate.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A temporary mental lapse, such as an inability to remember something, to focus one's attention, to understand something, or to perform some other mental task of which one would ordinarily be capable."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "temporary",
          "temporary"
        ],
        [
          "mental",
          "mental"
        ],
        [
          "lapse",
          "lapse"
        ],
        [
          "inability",
          "inability"
        ],
        [
          "remember",
          "remember"
        ],
        [
          "focus",
          "focus"
        ],
        [
          "understand",
          "understand"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A temporary mental lapse, such as an inability to remember something, to focus one's attention, to understand something, or to perform some other mental task of which one would ordinarily be capable."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "brain-cramp"
    }
  ],
  "word": "brain cramp"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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