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

Falzone landed at the bottom of the stairs, suffering a traumatic brain injury, a fractured spine and a fractured rib. —Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 9 May 2026

Years later, her then-husband suffered a devastating accident that left him in a coma for six weeks with a traumatic brain injury and extensive facial fractures. —Nancy Badertscher, AJC.com, 7 May 2026

Tyler Bellerose's family explained via a GiveSendGo fundraiser that the 19-year-old, who plays for the Oregon State Beavers, was left with a traumatic brain injury after the April 13 accident. —Adam England, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026

Many patients are like him, who look unscathed on the outside, but live with the struggles of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every day. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 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