brainful

English

Etymology 1

brain +‎ -ful

Noun

brainful (plural brainfuls)

1. As much as one person can think about or hold in mind at one time.
   • 1868, Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book, volume 2 (verse novel), Count Guido Franceschini, page 81, line 179; republished as The Poetical Works of Robert Browning: Volume VIII. The Ring and the Book, Clarendon Press, 2001, →ISBN, page 16:

     A heartful of desire, man's natural load,
     A brainful of belief, the noble's lot,—

   • 1924, Elementary English - Volumes 1-2, page 249:

     My only hope is that the memory of my real friendship for each one will blot out the recollection of the brainfuls of non-essentials which they were bidden to bear about with them, at least till the day of reckoning.

   • 1957, Traffic World:

     The truly literate person knows thousands of words, often in several different languages, and has absorbed from listening and reading and seeing (for example, on TV) a whole brainful of thoughts and facts that he can recall and think about.

   • 2007, Kent Beck, Implementation Patterns:

     I can only usefully hold one brainful of detail at a time, and a thousand-line method contains way more than one brainful.

   • 2014, John Vorhaus, Poole's Paradise:

     His Philosophy in Exile course was a brainful. It kicked my ass, but unlike many of my classes, it didn't waste my time.

Etymology 2

brain +‎ -ful

Adjective

brainful (comparative more brainful, superlative most brainful)

1. Characterized by brain activity; cerebral.
   • 1892, Scotch-Irish Society of America, The Scotch-Irish in America:

     Stephens dubbed him, the Peter the Hermit of the tragic secession that drove to a head the great civil revolution, were of the brainful and dominant Scotch-Irish blood, and exemplified its traits and powers.

   • 1897, The Railway Surgeon - Volume 3, page 12:

     For it must ever be that the unconscious, dutiful, studious man, who ever strives to constantly replenish his mind through study, who follows sincerely the true function of his vocation , has within him the brainful power of obtaining the truest element of future reward.

   • 2015, Joseph Emet, Mindfulness Meditation:

     We are “brainful” until we realize it. Then we can become mindful, at least momentarily, because our frame of reference is now larger.

   • 2018, Gautam Malkani, Distortion:

     Fuck's sake. All this brainful red-pilling and you just trying to throw me off the trail again.