to rack one's brains
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To strain them to find out or recollect something; to puzzle about something.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to rack one's brains” mean?
To strain them to find out or recollect something; to puzzle about something.
Is “to rack one's brains” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.