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brainlock

noun

Etymology

From brain + lock.

  1. inherited from *lūkaną✻
  2. inherited from *lūkan✻
  3. inherited from lūcan
  4. inherited from locken
  5. derived from *lewg-✻
  6. inherited from *luką✻
  7. inherited from *lok✻
  8. inherited from loc
  9. inherited from lok
  10. compounded as brainlock — “brain + lock”

Definitions

  1. The situation where a person's brain seems to freeze up, preventing them from proceeding.

    • Pilots worry about "brainlock" — that sickening sensation when you pull out of a vertical dive at near 200 mph and have no idea what figure comes next.
    • Another, more disturbing reason for no-pulls is what skydivers call brainlock. Jumping out of a plane with your heart pounding and stress hormones pumping, it's no surprise that your mind can freeze up for a few seconds.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for brainlock. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA