brain freeze

Noun

brain freeze (usually uncountable, plural brain freezes)

1. (informal, usually) A pain in the head from eating or drinking something cold; a cold-stimulus headache.
   • Still, why do some people get brain freezes while others can chug a milkshake with impunity? […] For one, the research indicates brain freeze seems to run in families – if your parents have ice cream headaches, you're likely to as well.2026 May 30, Elizabeth Anne Brown, “Brain freeze? Ice cream headaches can reveal a surprising amount about your health”, in BBC, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2026

   Synonyms:

   ice cream headache

2. (usually) Failure to remember something, with the sense that recall is imminent.
   • I apologize for giving you another name a moment ago, that was a brain freeze on my part.2006, Paul Rodriguez, “Talking brains: a cognitive semantic analysis of an emerging folk neuropsychology”, in Public Understanding of Science, volume 15, page 311
   • I call it a brain freeze at this age, but whenever you have some kind of a problem remembering something, you think, oh, you know, you automatically think about Alzheimer’s.2011, James N. Laditka et al., "Older adults' concerns about cognitive health: commonalities and differences among six United States ethnic groups", Ageing and Society, vol. 31 (7), p. 1214

   Synonyms:

   tip of the tongue, presque vu