Brainwave

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of many rhythmic fluctuations of electric potential between parts of the brain, especially those seen on an electroencephalogram.
  2. 2
    the clear (and often sudden) understanding of a complex situation wordnet
  3. 3
    A sudden idea, understanding, or inspiration; a brainstorm.
  4. 4
    (neurophysiology) rapid fluctuations of voltage between parts of the cerebral cortex that are detectable with an electroencephalograph wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
brain wavebrainstormcortical potentialinsightinsightinspiration

Example

More examples

"To obtain the sound-stimulated brainwave patterns, Pasley used a device called an electroencephalograph, which measures the electrical firing of the patients' auditory circuits through electrodes already implanted in the patients' brains when they hear spoken words."

Etymology

From brain + wave.

Related phrases

brainwave fingerprinting

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.