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

In a 2017 study, researchers played a 24-second clip from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural US presidential address to people with acute severe traumatic brain injury. —Mariana Lenharo & Nature Magazine, Scientific American, 6 Aug. 2025

Natasha Richardson dies of a traumatic brain injury following a skiing accident in Quebec. —Sam Reed, Glamour, 30 July 2025

The landscape painter, who has a traumatic brain injury and borderline personality disorder, moved to the city in May. —Maryam Ahmed, Austin American Statesman, 29 July 2025

The attack left over 100 U.S. service members with traumatic brain injuries, according to the Pentagon. —Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 25 June 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