BRAIN DRAIN Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

brain drain

Or brain-drain

noun

a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.

brain drain

noun

informal��the emigration of scientists, technologists, academics, etc, for better pay, equipment, or conditions

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of brain drain¹

First recorded in 1960–65

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Idioms and Phrases

The departure of educated or talented persons for better pay or jobs elsewhere, as in The repression of free speech in Germany triggered a brain drain to Britain and America. The term originated about 1960, when many British scientists and intellectuals emigrated to the United States for a better working climate.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

It was a massive brain drain that hobbled the German war effort and benefited the Allies greatly.

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What worries some Conservatives more is not defections of current MPs but a brain drain of future MPs and advisers – the kinds of people who keep the ecosystem of a political party healthy.

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Competitors in Europe and Asia will benefit from the brain drain into their countries.

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People have been talking about a brain drain.

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The county off the coast of north-west Wales has seen one of the UK's sharpest birth-rate drops and "concerned" islanders are figuring out how to stop their "brain drain".

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brain death Braine

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