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brainpan

brainpan

2 9.6
The hard part of the skull that covers and protects the brain inside the head
  • noun
  • /ˈbreɪnˌpæn/
translation icon : cráneo
  • The other side was skinned, its skull sawed away to reveal the spongy contents of the brainpan.

Examples

  • Ann would never discuss such a thing, but I suspect that it, that one day-and-night, helped give her a model for what things were like for her dogs when they were hunting and when they went on point: how the world must have appeared to them when they were in that trance, that blue zone, where the odors of things wrote their images across the dogs' hot brainpans.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • A blow to the brainpan can lead to serious head injuries.

  • That girder went right through the brainpan.

  • It's turned out a child that can walk taller and run faster, one whose brainpan holds a mind that can think laterally.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • He wore a helmet to protect his brainpan while riding his bicycle.

  • The archaeologists discovered an ancient skull, complete with its brainpan, buried beneath the soil.

Synonyms

skull
vsbrainpan
  • Specialized
415 1.3

A bony structure of the head that protects the brain

refers only to the part that directly encloses and protects the brain
cranium
vsbrainpan
  • Specialized
20 5.7

The part of the skull that covers and protects the brain

is identical in meaning but exists as a different word form
braincase
vsbrainpan
  • Specialized
1 7.0

Part of the skull that holds and protects the brain

is the same in meaning but represents an alternative term

Surface Forms

brainpan singular
brainpans plural

Morphology

brainpan = brain + pan (semi-transparent) = brain + pan

The components 'brain' and 'pan' are recognizable, but 'pan' meaning a receptacle for the skull is figurative and not a fully productive naming pattern for learners.

Etymology

Brainpan is made from brain and pan, where pan is like a cooking pan or bowl that 'holds' things. So imagine the skull as a 'pan' that holds and protects the brain, which is why the word means the part of the skull that covers the brain.