rack one's brain

English

Alternative forms

• rack one's brains
• (proscribed) wrack one's brain
• (proscribed) wrack one's brains

Etymology

Combination of rack (“medieval torture method”), and brain, thus meaning “to cause the mind extreme discomfort”.

Variants include rack one's wit (1583) and rack one's memory, as well as cudgel one's brain / cudgel one's brains.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

rack one's brain (third-person singular simple present racks one's brain, present participle racking one's brain, simple past and past participle racked one's brain)

1. (figuratively) To struggle to think of or remember something.

   I have been racking my brain all day trying to think of a birthday present for her.

   • 2023 January 19, Zohaib Ahmed, “Here’s how ChatGPT can help you deal with boring tasks so you can focus on things that matter”, in The Indian Express‎^[2]:

     Let’s face it – math isn’t for everyone. If you’re done racking your brains over a question based on quadratic equations, differential calculus, or even lengthy word problems, and can’t for the life of you figure out what’s what, then perhaps it’s time you let ChatGPT take up the role of a home tutor.

Translations

struggle to think of something

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 絞盡腦汁／绞尽脑汁 (zh) (jiǎojìn nǎozhī)

• Czech: lámat si hlavu (cs)
• Dutch: zich suf piekeren
• Esperanto: cerbumi (eo)
• Finnish: miettiä päänsä puhki
• French: se creuser la tête (fr), se creuser les méninges (fr), se creuser la cervelle (fr), se casser la tête (fr)
• German: sich den Kopf zerbrechen (de)
• Hungarian: töri a fejét (hu)
• Icelandic: brjóta heilann
• Italian: scervellarsi (it), arrovellarsi, lambiccarsi il cervello, spremersi le meningi
• Japanese: 脳漿を絞る (nōshō o shiboru)
• Polish: łamać sobie głowę (pl), zachodzić w głowę (pl)
• Portuguese: quebrar a cabeça (pt)
• Russian: лома́ть го́лову (ru) impf (lomátʹ gólovu)
• Spanish: devanarse los sesos, romperse la cabeza
• Turkish: kafa patlatmak (tr)
• Walloon: si tuzer moirt (wa), si casser l' tiesse (wa)

See also

• beat one's brains