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Webster 1913 Edition


Brainpan

Brain′panˊ

,
Noun.
[
Brain
+
pan
.]
The bones which inclose the brain; the skull; the cranium.

Webster 1828 Edition


Brainpan

BRA'INPAN

,
Noun.
[brain and pan.] The skull which incloses the brain.

Definition 2024


brainpan

brainpan

See also: brain-pan

English

Alternative forms

Noun

brainpan (plural brainpans)

  1. (now chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The skull. [from 10th c.]
    • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 2, First Folio 1623, IV.9:
      Many a time but for a Sallet, my braine-pan had bene cleft with a brown Bill.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.6:
      Yet, whether thwart or flatly it did lyte, / The tempred steele did not into his braynepan byte.
  2. (now chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) The brain or mind. [from 17th c.]
    • 1822, Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel:
      ‘And a hard word it is,’ said Richie, ‘as my brainpan kens to this blessed moment.’