brainstorm

American  

[breyn-stawrm] / ˈbreɪnˌstɔrm /

noun

brainstorms plural

1. 1. a sudden impulse, idea, etc..

      Her most recent brainstorm of teaching her dog to surf wasn’t met with much enthusiasm from the dog.

   2. Chiefly British Informal. a fit of mental confusion or excitement.

2. a session of brainstorming.

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adjective

1. of or relating to brainstorming.

verb (used without object)

1. to conduct or practice brainstorming, a technique for generating ideas and solving specific problems with uncensored and nonlinear thinking, usually performed through group participation in a spontaneous discussion where all ideas are noted without assigning them value, and no proposal is selected or discarded until after the conclusion of the creative exercise.

verb (used with object)

1. to generate (ideas, solutions, questions, etc.) through brainstorming.

brainstorm British  

/ ˈbreɪnˌstɔːm /

noun

1. a severe outburst of excitement, often as the result of a transitory disturbance of cerebral activity

2. informal a sudden mental aberration

3. informal another word for brainwave

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• brainstormer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brainstorms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of brainstorm

First recorded in 1890–95; brain + storm; originally a manifestation of a serious psychiatric disorder

Explanation

As you would expect, the word brainstorm involves thought. A brainstorm can be an "Aha!" moment, while brainstorming is the process of trying to think of ideas. If you've ever needed to find a topic for a paper and have just started listing every idea coming to you, you know what it's like to brainstorm. People brainstorm when they need a new idea. You can also say you had a brainstorm when a good idea or solution occurs to you. Often, this kind of brainstorm happens when you're not even working on the problem. For example, a scientist might have a brainstorm for a new project in the shower.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brainstorm brainstorms

Pastors across America are increasingly turning to chatbots to brainstorm, research and help write sermons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

I find it helpful to brainstorm a week’s worth of meal ideas that call for rotisserie chicken in preparation for bringing a whole bird home.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

Spiegel says they brainstorm ideas for actors and themes based on what’s in the zeitgeist, tying the stories to specific moments in pop culture, then sprinkling in some evergreen stories throughout the year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

"I did my research and then started to kind of brainstorm what those ideas could be and how I could integrate my own musicality into the pre-existing world of Devil Wears Prada."

From BBC ● May 1, 2026

“Are you having a brainstorm or do you just really, really like chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

The world will be a better place when statesmen and their cronies routinely submit their strategic brainstorms to an LLM, free of wishful thinking or tunnel vision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

But not all of Marlon’s brainstorms were so outré, and here is the Brando’s principal innovative success.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024

Researchers are just beginning to test some of the ideas generated by these brainstorms.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 18, 2023

The stagy devices give the impression of notions that may have seemed like brainstorms in rehearsal but in performance feel overly artificial.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2023

I picture Grandma weaving the threads together, humming and chuckling while she brainstorms the next mind-bending story she’s going to tell me about Ghana.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• deliberate