Definition

1. Verb phrase (informal):
   • To cudgel one's brains: To think very hard and for a long time, often with great effort and difficulty, in order to find a solution, an idea, or an answer.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Nặn óc mới tìm được giải pháp cho vấn đề. (I had to cudgel my brains to finally find a solution to the problem.)
  • Anh ấy đang nặn óc để viết bài luận. (He is cudgeling his brains to write the essay.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase emphasizes the strenuous mental effort, as if one is squeezing or pressing ("nặn") one's brain ("óc") to extract an idea. It often implies a degree of struggle and that the thinking process is not easy or quick.

Synonyms

• To rack one's brains: To think very hard.
• To brainstorm: To generate ideas through intensive thinking (though this is less strenuous in connotation).
• To think long and hard: To ponder something deeply and for an extended period.

Related Idioms

• While "nặn óc" is itself an idiomatic expression, it is closely related in imagery to the English idiom "to pick someone's brain," though that means to get ideas from someone else, not oneself.

1. Cudgel one's brains long and hard
   • Nặn óc mới tìm được giải pháp cho vấn đề
     To cudgel one's brains long and hard and in the end find an answer to a question