wrack one's brains
Struggle to remember
To wrack one's brains is to strain mentally, searching hard for a solution or trying to remember something: I wracked my brains trying to remember where I'd left my keys.
The phrase suggests effortful, almost painful mental exertion.
Also appears as rack one's brains—both spellings are standard, though some insist on one or the other.
- contemplateConsider something thoroughly
- deep thoughtIntense cognitive deliberation
- solveFind the answer
- figure outDetermine through reasoning
- work outExercise or solve
recollect · think hard · troubleshoot · chew over · puzzle over · retrieve · remember · mull over · deliberate · scratch one's head · recall · think back · deduce · decode · frustration · reminisce · analyze · mental effort
wrack one's brainsspring to mind
Emerge in consciousness
know like the back of one's hand · go blank · draw a blank · wing it
wrack one's brainsgive up
Stop attempting something
zone out · space out · let it go · shrug it off · switch off
wrack, rack, wreck, wrecks, wrecked, wrecking, wrecker, wreckage, brain