Definition of "braincase" [brain•case]

• The part of the skull that encloses the brain; the cranium. Also called brainpan. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Five fossil human skulls show how the shape of the face and braincase of early humans changed over the past 2.5 million years. (from left to right: Australopithecus africanus, 2.5 million years old; Homo rudolfensis, 1.9 million years old; Homo erectus, ~ 1 million years old; Homo heidelbergensis, ~350,000 years old; Homo sapiens, ~ 4,800 years old)"
• "The image was so detailed that you could even make out the holes where blood vessels traveled from the animal's braincase."
• "I have a broken left wrist, broken left arm, and again rib damage, but my brain, braincase, and spine are all good."