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no-brainer

 

no-brainer noun, adj. (informal)
> noun
1 a decision or problem that you do not need to think about much because it is obvious what you should do: The question of who to support in this election should be a no-brainer. * Protecting the environment is a no-brainer it is obvious that we must protect it. * Accepting their offer was a no-brainer for me. * The exam was a no-brainer it was not difficult.
2 a stupid person or action: These days, any no-brainer who wants to talk on the radio can do it. * He punched another player in front of the referee - that was a real no-brainer.
> adj. [only before noun] requiring little intelligence or mental effort; easy: no-brainer solutions * a no-brainer action movie * a no-brainer chocolate cake one that is easy to make * This book contains 20 no-brainer ways to improve your English vocabulary.

The brain is the organ inside the head that controls thought, movement, etc. By extension, brain (or brains) can also mean ‘intelligence’. She has a good brain is intelligent and learns fast. Therefore a no-brainer is something that requires no intelligence or thought.-er is a very common suffix used to form nouns. As well as being added to verbs to refer to people or machines that do particular jobs (for example painter and photocopier), it is often used to turn phrases into nouns. Examples include three-wheeler (= a type of car with three wheels), all-nighter (= a time when you stay awake all night studying), first-timer (= a person who does something for the first time), left-hander (= a person who finds it easier to use their left hand to write, etc. with than their right), and double-decker (= a bus with two floors, one on top of the other).

No-brainer is just one of the thousands of new words in the brand new 7th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Simply double-click on any word in the OALD website, or type a word in the box, to see an entry from the new edition.



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