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

These are also the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries and 83% of hip fracture deaths. —Jamie Gold, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026

He was taken to a hospital with a traumatic brain injury. —J.d. Miles, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026

Older adults are also more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries after a fall. —Miriam Fauzia, Dallas Morning News, 26 Jan. 2026

Among those who were seriously injured was Sheltra’s wife, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and could not remember the crash or various events in the two years before the crash, the warrant affidavit said. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 22 Jan. 2026

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