train of thought
train of thought — idiom
1. a connected series of ideas that a person is developing in their mind while thin
a connected series of ideas that a person is developing in their mind while thinking or talking, especially when this flow is about to be interrupted or has been lost.
Elena lost her train of thought when the fire alarm suddenly went off.
collocation: lose one's train of thought
Let me finish this train of thought before you ask another question, Cyrus.
collocation: finish / continue a train of thought
Vikram paused to gather his train of thought before giving his answer to the board.
A loud cough from the back of the room completely broke Anya's train of thought.
The essay was hard to follow because it had no clear train of thought.
- thought process
more formal and systematic; suggests a methodical series of reasoning steps rather than a casual mental sequence
- line of reasoning
focuses on the logical argument being built rather than the mental experience of thinking
- chain of thought
emphasises the connectedness and sequential nature; slightly less common than 'train of thought'
文法句型
lose/follow/gather one's train of thought
interrupt/break someone's train of thought
用法筆記
Commonly appears with verbs that indicate losing, regaining, or interrupting a mental sequence: lose, break, interrupt, gather, follow, pick up. The phrase is typically used with a possessive determiner (my, his, her, their, one's) or the definite article (the).