brainstorm
/ˈbɹeɪnstɔːm//ˈbɹeɪnstɔɹm/
brainstorm verb: to investigate something, or solve a problem using brainstorming. Also the alternative form of brain storm.
Verb
brainstorm (third-person singular simple present brainstorms, present participle brainstorming, simple past and past participle brainstormed)
- To investigate something, or solve a problem using brainstorming.
- Meanwihle at Winterfell, another overdone scheme designed mainly to surprise the audience. In the black of her chambers, Sansa brainstorms with Littlefinger what Arya could want. “After she murders you, what does she become?” he asks. To which Sansa does everything but gasp and spit-take, widening...2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club
- On another occasion, when trying to brainstorm things I could do to make myself feel better despite all the pandemic restrictions, Woebot suggested I “try doing something nice for someone in your life,” like make a calming tea for my housemate or check in with a loved one.2022 September 27, Barclay Bram, “My Therapist, the Robot”, in The New York Times
- To participate in a brainstorming session.
- To think up (ideas); especially, to do so creatively.
- I need you to brainstorm some suggestions for next week's activity schedule.
Noun
brainstorm (plural brainstorms)
- A sudden thought, particularly one that solves a long-standing problem.
- I had been working on the problem for weeks, and then I had a brainstorm and saw that the solution was easy.
- Synonyms:
- brainwave
- A session of brainstorming, investigating a problem to try to find solutions.
- An unexpected mental error.
- A terrible fielding error from Tony Graffanino proved costly. … Aaron Rowand collected an RBI double to get them off the mark before Graffanino's brainstorm. Juan Uribe hit a roller to the second baseman, who let the potential inning-ending double-play ball roll under his glove, leaving runners at...2005 October 5, "Iguchi hit ruins Red Sox's night", BBC Online, 5 October
Also used as
brainstorm is also the alternative form of brain storm.
Synonyms of brainstorm
Forms of brainstorm
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | brainstorms |
| present participle | brainstorming |
| past participle | brainstormed |
| past | brainstormed |
| alternative form | brain-storm |
| alternative form | brain storm |
| Noun | |
| plural | brainstorms |
Origin of brainstorm
From brain + storm. In the sense of "problem-solve", devised as a method of group creative problem-solving by advertising executive Alex F. Osborn and his employees, who coined the term based on the image of using "the brain to storm a problem". First use appears c. 1945. In the sense of "seizure, convulsion, brain activity", from the unrelated idea that it resembles a storm in the brain. First use appears c. 1861.
Words formed from brainstorm
Words that rhyme with brainstorm
Questions about brainstorm
- What does brainstorm mean?
- Brainstorm means to investigate something, or solve a problem using brainstorming.
- What part of speech is brainstorm?
- Brainstorm can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce brainstorm?
- Brainstorm is pronounced /ˈbɹeɪnstɔːm/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of brainstorm?
- The past tense of brainstorm is brainstormed.
Words near brainstorm in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: brainstorm (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-brainstorm.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-brainstorm.wav.
Cite this entry: “brainstorm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brainstorm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.