Definify.com

Definition 2024

rack_one's_brain

rack one's brain

English

Alternative forms

Verb

rack one's brain

(idiomatic) To struggle to think of or remember something.
I have been racking my brain all day trying to think of a birthday present for her.

Translations

struggle to think of something

Chinese:
Mandarin: 絞盡腦汁 (zh), 绞尽脑汁 (zh) ‎(jiǎojìn nǎozhī)
Finnish: miettiä päänsä puhki
French: se creuser la tête (fr)
German: sich den Kopf zerbrechen (de)
Hungarian: töri a fejét (hu)

Icelandic: brjóta heilann
Italian: scervellare, arrovellarsi
Japanese: 脳漿を絞る ‎(nōshō o shiboru)
Portuguese: quebrar a cabeça (pt)
Russian: лома́ть го́лову impf ‎(lomátʹ gólovu)
Turkish: kafa patlatmak (tr)

References

↑ Michael Quinion (2011-11-19), “Wrack or rack?”, in World Wide Words