brain freeze
Americannoun
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brain freezes
plural
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Also called ice cream headache. a pain in the temples and forehead brought on by quickly consuming very cold food or drink.
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a temporary lapse in memory; a sudden mental block.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brain freeze
First recorded in 1990–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first three games saw multi-goal comebacks, blown leads, and enough on-ice madness to give you brain freeze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
But Scotland midfielder McGinn scored his second goal of the game from distance after a brain freeze from Forest goalkeeper John Victor, who inexplicably charged out of his area.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
The finale reached another low point with the “he’s your father” revelation in the end which must have caused “Star Wars” fans to have a brain freeze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2025
BBC Sport’s Chris Sutton described it as a "brain freeze", former Leeds forward Lucy Ward said on TNT it was a "shambles" and "farcical", while ex-England striker Peter Crouch called it a "moment of madness".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2024
I stand and noise bleeds into my ears, almost giving me a brain freeze.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
