brain drain
5
4.2
- noun
- /breɪn dreɪn/
:
fuga de cerebros
- Additionally, the 22-year war and the Taliban's repressive social policies have led to a devastating brain drain from the country.
- brain drain and staff turnover
- brain drain in Africa
- impact of the brain drain
But, you know, we have a tremendous brain drain from China of them coming here.
- But, you know, we have a tremendous brain drain from China of them coming here.
- Will there be a journalistic brain drain in DC?
- Iran has the largest, I think I'm right to say so has the largest brain drain in any country in the world.
- So not much in terms of brain drain or loosen up their people exports.
- I mean, think about the brain drain and think about the drain of resources and the result of that.
Examples
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Most developing countries see globalization, skills migration, and the brain drain as profoundly damaging to their economic and development prospects.
Academic text (2002) -
This in turn, has led to a brain drain, budget cuts at government agencies and sharply reduced spending on infrastructure.
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On the Canadian side, the brain drain was a more important concern.
Academic text (1990) -
But, you know, we have a tremendous brain drain from China of them coming here.
-
Iran has the largest, I think I'm right to say so has the largest brain drain in any country in the world.
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There has always been a brain drain in Africa, but it has recently increased fourfold.
Academic text (1993) -
The sanctions worsened the brain drain and had additional negative effects on education.
Academic text (2004) -
There's growing concern over a brain drain affecting the Middle East.
Blog text (1) -
Making matters worse were signs of a potentially serious brain drain—a topic that made newspaper headlines with great regularity.
Academic text (1999) -
The country's severe economic downturn has led to a significant brain drain as talented professionals seek better opportunities abroad.
Synonyms
A rapid loss of skilled employees from a company or organization
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'loss or outflow of skilled people' is directly derivable from combining 'brain' (intelligence/skilled people, via metonymy) with 'drain' (an outflow or depletion). This metaphorical mapping is transparent and reinforced by common cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g. French fuite des cerveaux, Spanish fuga de cerebros), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will generally understand the meaning.
Etymology
Brain drain may come from the image of a country's smart people, the brain, flowing away like water down a drain. That's why it means 'the movement of skilled people to other countries or places', leaving the home country with fewer experts.