brain death

Definition of brain death

: final cessation of activity in the central nervous system especially as indicated by a flat electroencephalogram for a predetermined length of time

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Examples of brain death in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web McClain was an organ donor, he was taken off life support three days after his brain death. — Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post, "Autopsy: Cause and manner of death of 23-year-old who struggled with Aurora police is undetermined," 8 Nov. 2019 LiPuma is an associate professor of philosophy at Tri-C, whose work centers on end-of-life care and brain death. — Carol Kovach, cleveland, "Don’t forget to ‘fall back,’ and watch out for trick-or-treaters: Sun Postings," 29 Oct. 2019 The brain’s fragmentation happens naturally as bodies are kept on ventilators after brain death. — Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, "Key cases where death probes were complicated by harvesting of body parts," 13 Oct. 2019 Physicians identified the cause of Abienwi’s death as brain death secondary to basal ganglia hemorrhage, ICE said. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Man dies in ICE custody in San Diego," 2 Oct. 2019 Collectively, the research proved that brain death wasn’t a single event. — Matthew Shaer, New York Times, "Scientists Are Giving Dead Brains New Life. What Could Go Wrong?," 2 July 2019 Because time is crucial between legal death and brain death, Suspended Animation, a Boynton Beach company, operates the cryomobile. — Cindy Krischer Goodman, sun-sentinel.com, "Frozen for eternity: Can you really cheat death?," 26 July 2019 In Pennsylvania and most other states, a patient who suffers from complete, irreversible brain death may be declared legally dead and removed from life support. — Tom Avril, Philly.com, "CHOP physicians testify in court that N.J. boy is 'brain-dead'," 9 May 2018 He or she must be hospitalized and on life support, usually due to an unexpected illness or accident, such as a brain aneurysm, stroke or severe head trauma leading to brain death. — WSJ, "Slippery Slope of Human Organ Harvesting," 21 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brain death.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

22 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“Brain death.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brain%20death. Accessed 7 December 2019.

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More Definitions for brain death

brain death

noun

English Language Learners Definition of brain death

medical : the condition of having no brain function : the end of activity in the brain

See the full definition for brain death in the English Language Learners Dictionary

brain death

noun

Medical Definition of brain death

: final cessation of activity in the central nervous system especially as indicated by a flat electroencephalogram for a predetermined length of time

brain death

noun

\ ˈbrān-ˌdeth \

Legal Definition of brain death

: the final stopping of activity in the central nervous system especially as indicated by a flat electroencephalogram for a usually statutorily predetermined period of time