brain trust

¹

British, Brains Trust

noun

1. a group of experts from various fields who serve as unofficial consultants on matters of policy and strategy.

brain-trust

²

[breyn-truhst]

verb (used with object)

1. to serve as a brain trust or a brain truster for.

   They have brain-trusted many major corporations.

brain trust

¹

1. A group of experts who serve as advisers to a government or an organization: “Before being appointed to the cabinet, Brown had been a leading figure in a financial brain trust.”

brain trust

²

1. A group of intellectuals and planners who act as advisers, especially to a government. The phrase is particularly associated with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Word History and Origins

Origin of brain trust¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Idioms and Phrases

A group of experts who serve as unofficial but vital advisers. For example, Each town manager seemed to have his or her own brain trust, which of course changed with every election. This term, closely associated with President Franklin Roosevelt's advisers on domestic and foreign policy in the early 1930s, was first recorded in 1910.