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

Adamson was involved in an observational study, published in 2024, of 30 combat veterans with traumatic brain injuries who underwent ibogaine treatment in Mexico. —Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2026

Who’s using it A growing number of military veterans are turning to ibogaine, many seeking treatment for traumatic brain injuries. —Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2026

Thurber was in critical condition at Regions Hospital with a traumatic brain injury and died three weeks later. —Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 22 Apr. 2026

Ibogaine — a potent drug that sends users on an intense, sometimes emotionally upsetting, hours-long trip — has been touted as a way to treat traumatic brain injury and opioid addiction. —Erika Edwards, NBC news, 20 Apr. 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