traumatic brain injury

noun

: an acquired brain injury caused by external force (such as a blow to the head sustained in a motor vehicle accident or fall or shrapnel or a bullet entering through the skull)

Traumatic brain injury occurs when the shock from an explosion damages neurological fibers. Soldiers may survive a blast with scarcely a cut, only to find over time that they suffer coordination and memory loss, dizziness, insomnia.

—Nancy Gibbs

An unprotected fall, especially if the player is unconscious or his opponent lands on top of him, can result in severe traumatic brain injury.

—Michael J. Stuart et al.

broadly : acquired brain injury

—abbreviation TBI

Examples of traumatic brain injury in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Everybody wants a better brain — and certain mushrooms benefit brain health so much that they’re being adopted by patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia and traumatic brain injury (TBI). —Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone, 6 Dec. 2024

Abnormalities in this region of the brain are known to occur in severe traumatic brain injuries. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2024

Of the people seeking treatment for a traumatic brain injury, 32% were 75 or older. —Nicole Villalpando, Austin American-Statesman, 24 Sep. 2024

Tagovailoa collapsed to the turf in pain and showed signs of a traumatic brain injury, according to multiple experts, after being hit by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. —Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 13 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

traumatic brain injury

noun

: an acquired brain injury caused by external force (as a blow to the head sustained in a motor vehicle accident or fall or shrapnel or a bullet entering through the skull)

A soldier—or a civilian—can survive the blast without a single penetrating wound and still receive the worst diagnosis: traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the signature injury of the Iraq War.

—Michael Mason, Discover

An unprotected fall, especially if the player is unconscious or his opponent lands on top of him, can result in severe traumatic brain injury.

—Michael J. Stuart et al., USA Today

broadly : acquired brain injury

—abbreviation TBI