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

In one lawsuit paid out this year, the city agreed to give $3 million to a man who tripped over a slightly uneven sidewalk and suffered a traumatic brain injury. —Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025

Proponents are specifically interested in ibogaine’s potential to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI), one of the leading causes of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). —Amber X. Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2025

Psychedelics such as ibogaine, ayahuasca, psilocybin, LSD and MDMA have all shown promising results in treating mental health conditions including PTSD, traumatic brain injury and treatment-resistant depression. —Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025

Everything changes after a tragedy one summer, leaving Cady with a traumatic brain injury and memory loss. —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 19 June 2025

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