brain drain

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Loss of skilled workers to another country or region

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Sự mất mát công nhân có kỹ năng sang nước hoặc khu vực khác

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: drain of brains
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The brain drain has affected the economy of the home country

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “brain drain” mean?

Loss of skilled workers to another country or region Literally: drain of brains

Is “brain drain” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.