pick someone's brain, to

pick someone's brain(s)

Fig. to talk with someone to find out information about something. I spent the afternoon with Donna, picking her brain for ideas to use in our celebration. Do you mind if I pick your brains? I need some fresh ideas.

pick someone's brain

Obtain ideas or information from another person, as in I'm out of ideas for decorating-let me pick your brain. This term alludes to picking clean a carcass. [Mid-1800s]

pick someone's brain, to

To gather information or ideas from someone who is presumably more expert or more imaginative. This analogy to picking clean a bone or carcass dates from the mid-nineteenth century. “Do you possess the art of picking other people’s brains,” wrote clergyman Benjamin Jowett (1817–93). For picking one’s own brain, see cudgel one’s brains.