brain trust

noun
1.
a group of experts from various fields who serve as unofficial consultants on matters of policy and strategy.
Also, British, Brains Trust.
Origin
1905-10, Americanism

brain-trust

[breyn-truhst] /ˈbreɪnˌtrʌst/
verb (used with object)
1.
to serve as a brain trust or a brain truster for:
They have brain-trusted many major corporations.
Examples from the web for brain trust
  • Most of the reformist brain trust has been rounded up.
  • He has no brain trust and no long-term cadre of strategists and political confidants.
  • It's something that's beyond our control even with this brain trust here on the instruction panel.
Word Origin and History for brain trust
n.

occasionally used since early 1900s, it became current in 1933, in reference to the intellectuals gathered by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as advisors; from brain (n.) + trust (n.).

brain trust in Culture

brain trust definition


A group of experts who serve as advisers to a government or an organization: “Before being appointed to the cabinet, Brown had been a leading figure in a financial brain trust.”

brain trust definition


A group of intellectuals and planners who act as advisers, especially to a government. The phrase is particularly associated with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Idioms and Phrases with brain trust

brain trust

A group of experts who serve as unofficial but vital advisers. For example, Each town manager seemed to have his or her own brain trust, which of course changed with every election. This term, closely associated with President Franklin Roosevelt's advisers on domestic and foreign policy in the early 1930s, was first recorded in 1910.