Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Brain-storming / racking one's brains: The state of thinking extremely hard and exhaustively in an attempt to solve a difficult or complex problem. It describes intense mental effort that feels as if one's brain is being worn out or mashed.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Tôi đã nghĩ nát óc mà vẫn không tìm ra giải pháp. (I racked my brains but still couldn't find a solution.)
  • Anh ấy nát óc tìm cách sửa chiếc máy tính hỏng. (He is brain-storming to find a way to fix the broken computer.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used with verbs like "nghĩ" (to think) or "tìm" (to find/look for) to form common collocations: "nghĩ nát óc", "tìm nát óc".
  • Cả nhóm nghĩ nát óc cho chiến dịch marketing mới. (The whole team racked their brains for the new marketing campaign.)

Variants and Related Words

• Vắt óc (v): to wring one's brain; a very similar idiom meaning to think extremely hard.
  • Phải vắt óc ra mới hoàn thành bài tập này. (I had to wring my brain to complete this assignment.)

Synonyms

• To brainstorm: to generate ideas intensively.
• To rack one's brains: to think very hard.
• To ponder deeply: to think about something carefully and for a long time.

Related Idioms

• Nát lòng: to be heartbroken; shares the adjective "nát" (smashed, worn out) but applies to emotional distress rather than mental effort.
  • Nghe tin đó, cô ấy nát lòng. (Hearing that news, she was heartbroken.)

adj

1. brain-storming