brain drain

or brain-drain

See synonyms for brain drain on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.

Origin of brain drain

1
First recorded in 1960–65

Words Nearby brain drain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use brain drain in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brain drain

brain drain

noun
  1. informal the emigration of scientists, technologists, academics, etc, for better pay, equipment, or conditions

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with brain drain

brain drain

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.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.