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

More serious causes of memory loss often include stroke, traumatic brain injury, depression or neurological disorders. —Daryl Austin, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025

Science will eventually catch all of these wounds – PTSD, insomnia, traumatic brain injuries. —Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 19 Sep. 2025

Coral Gables Fire Rescue took them to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital to be treated for fractured bones and traumatic brain injuries. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2025

He was hit on the side of the head, cracking his skull and causing a traumatic brain injury. —Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 18 Sep. 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